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THE ESSENTIAL CALVINISM 



THE 

ESSENTIAL CALVINISM 



BY 

Rev. J. SELDEN STRONG 




THE PILGRIM PRESS 

14 Beacon Street 175 Wabash Ave. 

BOSTON CHICAGO 



Copyright^ iqoq, 
by 

J. Selden Strong. 



The Arakelyan Press, Boston, Mass. 



©CIA252842 



Zo the mentors ot 

REVEREND DAVID ALMERIN STRONG 
THIS BOOK IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED 
BY HIS SON 



PREFACE 



It was the great good fortune of the author of 
this book to hear a very able lecture delivered by 
Dr. Abraham Kuyper of Holland while he was 
making a tour of America in 1898. This lecture 
treated of the political aspect of Calvinism, and 
called attention to the service which it had ren- 
dered to modern society in setting forth a govern- 
mental philosophy based on the conception of a 
personal, sovereign God. 

The suggestion thus afforded, that Calvinism 
was something more than a system of theology, 
led to> an investigation which has been carried on 
at intervals for a period of ten years. It would 
seem to be an opportune time to give to the public 
the results of this investigation, since this year is 
the four hundreth anniversary of the reformer's 
birth, and attention and interest are directed to^ 
ward him and his work as never before. 

In the first five chapters the author tells what 
conclusions he has come to regarding the real 
nature of Calvin's contribution to modern thought 
and progress, while the remaining chapters are 
given to a treatment of the present and future de- 
velopment of the principles of Calvinism and the 
Reformation. 

J. s. s. 

August 14, 1909. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

I. Traditional Calvinism ... 3 
II. The Calvinism of the Institutes 19 

III. The Theological Sources of the 

Institutes 37 

IV. The Personal Equation ... 67 
V. Applied Calvinism 79 

VI. The Calvinistic Principle of 

Authority . . . . 11 1 

VII. The Elements of Theocracy . 135 

VIII. The Dynamics of Protestantism 157 



CHAPTER I 
TRADITIONAL CALVINISM 



CHAPTER I 



TRADITIONAL CALVINISM 

The word "Calvinism" stands in the popular 
mind for a certain scheme of doctrine, rigid in 
outline, Puritanic in spirit, dogmatic in state- 
ment. 

There is not lacking a cause for this impres- 
sion. In the doctrinal history of the Calvinistic 
churches is found abundant evidence to justify 
such a conclusion. The attempt is made in 
creedal form to reduce the whole body of Chris- 
tian truth into* hard-set theological formulas, 
definite, exclusive. Undue emphasis is put upon 
certain phases of Biblical teaching with the result 
of minimizing some very important facts, An 
assumption of absolute certainty forbids freedom 
in belief and progress in thought ; and reacts very 
disagreeably upon character and life. Then, too, 
many of the followers of Calvin exaggerated the 
naturally prominent features of his theology, 
thereby throwing the system out of balance, and 
in application calling attention to the formal 
rather than the vital elements of the Reformation. 
What is far worse, in this way they gave the 
world the impression that Calvin was a mere dog- 
matist, though a very masterful one, and ob- 
scured the fact that he was above all the servant 
of God and of man, who> exerted upon his own 

[3] 



The Essential Calvinism 

generation a transcendent influence in behalf of 
progress and reform. 

Owing to this misplaced emphasis there came 
in later times to the churches of Genevan origin 
an inert, lifeless orthodoxy, when the ideas of 
love and liberty were lost amid the fogs of 
speculative theology, and Christianity was con- 
sidered a matter of correct belief rather than a 
way to live. 

How very one-sided Christian thought had be- 
come, one may easily realize by referring to that 
extremely condensed statement of belief known 
as the "Five Points of Calvinism/' which became 
widely current and was received as conveying an 
adequate idea of Calvin's important teachings. 
That this statement was purely a negative one, 
and was composed merely to offset the five points 
of the Arminian Remonstrants was a fact ap- 
parently lost sight of, or else unheeded in the 
earnestness of theological partisanship. 

The five points of this brief creed w r ere, by 
name, Particular Predestination; Limited Atone- 
ment; Natural Inability; Irresistible Grace; Per- 
severance of the Saints. A glance will show that 
these "points" are all subjects of speculative 
theology and philosophy, and largely outside the 
field of practical religion and morals. 

It is extremely unfortunate for Calvinism that 
such an easily remembered formula was ever 
given to the world, seeing that in its origin it was 
a negation, and in its scope limited to the subjects 

[4] 



Traditional Calvinism 

of a certain theological controversy. Not only 
did it present a very limited view of Calvinism, 
but it also tended to perpetuate its peculiarities in 
an exaggerated form in the minds of those who 
sympathized with the Dutch Calvinists as over 
against the Arminians. 

Moreover, the fact that to-day the Arminian 
statement of the five points finds general accept- 
ance among Protestant churches, apparently 
justifies the conclusion that Arminianism was an 
altogether separate movement from Calvinism, 
and as such, took the field successfully against it ; 
whereas the plain truth of the matter is that 
Arminianism was only Calvinism modified in cer- 
tain particulars of speculative belief. And as 
historic perspective lengthens, we see Calvinist 
and Arminian representing the same great cause, 
differing from one another for awhile over the 
formal statement of truth. For even a brief 
perusal of the articles of the Arminian Remon- 
strants will show that there is very little varia- 
tion therein from the teachings of Calvin. In- 
deed, it is a question if Arminius does not more 
truly represent Calvin than does Gomarus, for 
while Arminius may modify some of Calvin's 
positions, Gomarus throws Calvinism out of bal- 
ance by emphasizing a tendency towards 
fatalism. 

Far more representative of traditional Calvin- 
ism than the "Five Points," is the Confession of 
the Westminster Assembly. This is an orderly 

[5] 



The Essential Calvinism 

and well-proportioned statement of belief and 
the most complete and authoritative represen- 
tation of Calvinistic theology outside of the 
"Institutes." This document furnishes the tradi- 
tional Calvinism of the Presbyterians of Scot- 
land, the Puritans of England and the early 
churches of New England. Its influence on 
thought and life within these limits has been 
wonderful. It took new form in sermons and 
creeds, in religious conversation, in theological 
teaching, in home instruction, even to a large 
extent in law and statute. In the thinking of the 
older men of the present day it is still a force to 
be reckoned with. And very often when men 
recast their religious thought and reject the old 
formula they take traditional Calvinism as a 
point of departure, a measure of comparison. 

But the Westminster Confession is not pure 
Calvinism. It represents a development. The 
men who composed it were of a later generation 
and of a different race from Calvin and were not, 
even then, always in agreement among them- 
selves. It is worthy of note in this regard that 
the Five Points of the Dutch Calvinists form an 
integral part of the Westminster Confession, and 
are all treated more or less extensively by the 
authors. 

Particular Predestination is carefully treated 
in Chapter III, "Of God's Eternal Decree." God 
from all eternity decreed whatsoever comes to 
pass, though not so as to be the author of sin. 

[6] 



Traditional Calvinism 

Some are ordained to everlasting life and some to 
everlasting death to the praise of God's grace and 
the praise of his justice, — the number is certain 
and definite. 

The doctrine of Limited Atonement is 
presented under other names but comes by very 
certain implications. In Chapter VIII, "Of 
Christ the Mediator," we read that Christ pur- 
chased an everlasting inheritance for himself and 
all that the Father had given him. In Chapter X, 
"Of Effectual Calling," we find the statement 
that while all are called by the ministry of the 
Word only those effectually called, the elect of 
God, are saved ; others never truly come to Christ 
and cannot be saved. 

Natural Inability finds treatment in Chapter 
IX, "Of Free Will," where we are told that by 
the Fall man lost all ability of will to any spiritual 
good accompanying salvation. Chapter XVI, 
"Of Good Works," carries the thought still fur- 
ther by saying that works done by unregenerate 
men, though in accordance with the commands of 
God, are yet sinful ; even the effort to be good on 
the part of one of the non-elect is made to bear 
evidence in favor of inherent and complete moral 
weakness. 

The doctrine of Irresistible Grace we do not 
find treated specifically under that name. But 
something of nearly the same moment is 
presented in Chapter X, "Of Effectual Call- 
ing," where it is stated that only those pre- 

m 



The Essential Calvinism 

destined to salvation are effectually called, and 
that man is altogether passive therein till quick- 
ened by the Holy Spirit. It is wholly of God's 
grace. If we add to this the teaching both as 
to the Divine Decree and as to Moral Inability, 
we easily reach the conclusion of Irresistible 
Grace, for a spiritually impotent man, determined 
to salvation by the eternal decree of God, and 
effectually called thereto, can scarcely be thought 
of as capable of resisting divine grace when 
bestowed. 

A separate though brief chapter (XVII) is 
given to the subject of the Perseverance of the 
Saints. Here it is stated that all whom God has 
accepted in Christ are to persevere to the end and 
be saved. This perseverance depends on the 
immutable decree of election; but this assurance 
of final grace does not free the subject from tem- 
poral judgment for further sins. 

Having, then, found these five specific doctrines 
expressed in the Westminster Confession, the 
question naturally arises. Are they more than 
other subjects the gist of traditional Calvinism as 
exemplified in this standard ? 

If we were to reckon merely from the impres- 
sion made upon the popular mind perhaps our 
question would have a ready answer m the affirm- 
ative, for these subjects have ever been the 
material of controversy, and so the more effect- 
ively kept before the mind. But in actual creed 
and teachings we shall find it otherwise. The 

[8] 



Traditional Calvinism 

"Five Points" do not figure largely in the West- 
minster Confession as a system of doctrine. They 
are really, except perchance the doctrine of In- 
ability, only derivatives of one of the subjects 
treated in the Confession, and that not the main 
subject, i.e., the Divine Decree. The heavier 
and bulkier parts of the Confession are given to 
entirely different subjects. 

In the general plan of doctrine in this Confes- 
sion the first and foremost thing is the objective 
principle of the Reformation, the authority or 
infallibility of the Scriptures. This is the start- 
ing-point; it is the main assumption upon which 
all other teachings are based and out of which 
they attain their reality. They purport to derive 
their origin and proof from the Scriptures, and 
the rest of the Confession is intended merely to* be 
a setting forth of that truth which God has re- 
vealed through prophet and Christ as there re- 
corded. Particular Predestination and its his- 
toric partners must take their chances with other 
teachings supposed to be founded upon the 
Scriptures. 

The first thing which the authors of the West- 
minster Confession seek to establish on the wit- 
ness of the Scriptures is the doctrine of the 
Trinity. They present a strictly Athanasian 
teaching. There is but one true and living God 
who is the foundation of all being, exercising a 
"sovereign dominion" over all creation. He 
exists in the form of a trinity of persons, Father, 

[9] ' 



The Essential Calvinism 

Son and Spirit, of the same substance, and equal 
in power and glory. 

The whole teaching in regard to the Divine 
Decree which follows in the next chapter devolves 
upon the idea of "sovereign dominion/' and is 
really only an attempt to explain the method 
under which that dominion operates. The sup- 
posed importance of this doctrine as being the 
central thought of Calvinism finds a limitation in 
the chapter upon Providence, where God is 
described as exercising a fatherly discipline upon 
men as his children. The decree is after all a 
father's decree, however much men may overlook 
this fact in the heat of religious controversy. 
Still the position of this statement in the Confes- 
sion and its relative place in the system give it a 
prominent place among the leading ideas of 
Calvinism. 

Another notable feature of the Westminster 
Confession, and so of traditional Calvinism, is the 
federal idea of the atonement; wherein Adam 
acts as the head of the race, and, having sinned, 
passes on his guilt to his posterity; wherein also 
Christ acts as a second head of the race and by 
his perfect righteousness and sacrifice purchases 
redemption for the elect ; wherefore God pardons 
sin and imputes to the sinner the righteousness 
of Christ. 

The Confession also sets forth at length the 
subjective principle of the Reformation, of which 
Luther was the chief exponent, Justification by 

[10] 



Traditional Calvinism 

Faith. This doctrine is set over against the 
Roman idea of good works, which are here re- 
garded as of no* avail, since no good works are 
possible without the help of the Holy Spirit. The 
Confession avoids the extreme form of Luther's 
statement; in which it is said that the sinner is 
justified by faith alone, and makes it clear that 
faith is simply the human condition for the 
divine bestowal of justification and that true 
faith must necessarily find expression in good 
works. 

The Westminster Confession also gives the 
Reformation teaching as to the sacraments of 
the Church. Of the seven sacraments of the 
medieval era the Reformers suffer but twoi to> re- 
main, baptism and the Lord's Supper, and the 
objects of these are duly set forth as the seal of 
redemption and the symbol of divine communion. 
But it is worthy of note, that with however much 
consistency the Reformed creeds limit the num- 
ber of sacraments to two, they with equal con- 
sistency give to marriage a real sacramental 
value, in that while it is regarded as a civil con- 
tract, it is based on the law of God and has not 
only social but "religious purposes." 

We also find in the Confession characteristic 
Calvinistic teaching as to the strict observance of 
the Sabbath as a day of rest and worship; 
the distinction between the invisible and the 
visible Church; and the legalist presentation of 
the last judgment wherein God is a Judge who 

en] 



The 'Essential Calvinism 

renders verdict for eternal reward or punishment 
upon all men, an act of mercy for the elect, an 
act of justice for the reprobate. 

There is one point as to which the West- 
minster Confession fails to represent the 
traditional Calvinism even of English-speaking 
people, i.e., the theocratic idea of government; 
unless the simple declaration that the magistrate 
is ordained of God for the maintenance of order 
and peace may be construed to this effect. But 
such a mild statement can hardly be made to fit 
the thinking of such men as Knox and Melville 
in Scotland, of Cromwell and Milton in England, 
and of Winthrop and Davenport in New 
England. With these men the idea is not as to 
magistrates and laws, but of the State as an 
entity, administered in accordance with the divine 
will, and its citizens dealt with not simply as the 
citizens of the nation but as also citizens of the 
divine Kingdom. The theocratic idea may as- 
sume many forms, and it is sure to crop out in 
some way in the thinking and practise of Puritans 
and their descendants and find application in the 
administration of affairs of State. 

Calvinism found expression in other confes- 
sions than that of the Westminster Assembly, 
though never so exhaustively or authoritatively. 
A statement called the "First Scotch Confession" 
was made and presented to the Scotch Parlia- 
ment in 1560 by Knox and his associates. This 
was a strictly Calvinistic document. The the- 

[12] 



Traditional Calvinism 

ology of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church 
of England is substantially Calvinistic, though 
in many ways it is out of harmony with the 
Westminster Confession. In 1658 delegates from 
the Congregational churches of England met 
at the Savoy Palace in London and issued a 
statement of faith, which, except in the matter of 
polity, was in substantial agreement with the 
Westminster Confession. The Congregational- 
ists of New England in their turn adopted state- 
ments very similar to the Savoy Declaration, or 
else asserted their agreement with the West- 
minster Confession. 

On the Continent traditional Calvinism took 
a somewhat different course. The contest be- 
tween the two factions of the Dutch Calvinistic 
churches has already been alluded to. Besides 
the Five Decrees of the Synod of Dort which 
registered the decision of that assembly against 
Arminius and his followers, approval was given 
to a statement of faith known as the "Belgic 
Confession." This confession was the work of 
Guido de Bres, assisted by Adrien de Saravia, 
professor of theology in Leyden. It was revised 
by Francis Junius of Bourges, who had been a 
student under Calvin, and was printed about 
1565. This confession is considered by some 
to be the best creedal statement of Calvinism 
next to the Westminster Confession. It was ap- 
proved by all the synods of the Dutch churches 
and became their accepted statement of faith. 

[13] 



The Essential Calvinism 

But this confession seems to follow an earlier 
one, or at least is very like it in doctrine and out- 
line, — the Gallican Confession, adopted as the 
symbol of their faith by the French Protestants 
in their first synod at Paris in 1559. The first 
draft of this confession was made by Calvin him- 
self. It was slightly modified or revised by the 
synod and in that form became the doctrinal 
formula of the Huguenots. It would scarcely 
serve our purpose to outline these creeds. It 
may be sufficient to state that they are more 
directly in accord with Calvin's teaching in the 
"Institutes" than are the Scotch and English 
Confessions, and follow nearly the same order of 
thought and have the same choice of subjects. 
And as compared with the Westminster Confes- 
sion, while they deal largely with the same sub- 
jects, they lack that force of emphasis on certain 
doctrines and that careful logical arrangement 
which are so characteristic of the English Con- 
fession. 

We may restate our conclusions in brief. 
Traditional Calvinism gives us as its first prin- 
ciple the doctrine of the infallibility of the 
Scriptures. It then presents us with the idea 
of an absolutely sovereign God who exists in the 
form of a trinity of persons. It presents man as 
morally incapable and unworthy of divine favor 
on account of innate and inherited depravity ; but 
by divine and gracious decree through Christ's 
sacrifice and atonement for sin on the divine 

[14] 



Traditional Calvinism 

side, and the possession of justifying faith 
on the human side, a certain number of the race, 
called the elect, are saved from death at the last 
judgment. 

The will of God projects itself into human 
society, creating the religious order called the 
Church, recognized as such by the possession and 
proclamation of gospel truth, the redeemed life 
of its members, the observance of the sacraments 
of baptism and the Lord's Supper and the keep- 
ing of the Sabbath — and being invisible the 
whole company of the elect of every race and age ; 
creating also the social order called the State, 
which is an organization for the maintenance of 
peace and order, and for the carrying out of 
God's plan in the developing history of the world. 



[15] 



CHAPTER II 

THE CALVINISM OF THE 
INSTITUTES 



CHAPTER II 



THE CALVINISM OF THE INSTITUTES 

To one familiar only with the formulas of 
traditional Calvinism, the reading of the "In- 
stitutes of the Christian Religion" brings a great 
surprise. There is an absence of that concise- 
ness of dogma and that sureness of statement 
which we naturally associate with Calvinism. In- 
stead there is a breadth of thought, a fulness of 
treatment, a judicial dealing with every case 
which takes into account the reasoning powers: of 
the reader, with the purpose of helping him 
think instead of furnishing the thought formu- 
lated and ready to be fitted into* the mind. It 
would be difficult to find a single subject, even an 
insignificant one, in the two large volumes, which 
the author does not submit to reason, and for 
which he does not make an appeal to authorities 
in the Scriptures and among the Church Fathers. 

Then, too, for all its antiquity, the Institutes 
is a very readable work. The style is lucid, the 
language pure, the use of words certain, the prog- 
ress of thought is ever toward a definite end, 
and there is a wonderful freedom from circum- 
locution and meaningless phrases. It is quite 
free also* from technical terms, and capable of be- 
ing easily understood and appreciated by a mind 

[19] 



The Essential Calvinism 

of ordinary training and education. Indeed, one 
comes certainly to a conclusion that is utterly at 
variance with the tradition of a dogmatic Calvin, 
— that the book was written, not to be a final 
statement of theology, but simply to serve as an 
introduction to the study of the Scriptures and 
as an aid to the interpretation of them. 

That this conclusion is not amiss is confirmed 
by the words of Calvin himself in the preface to 
the edition of 1559: "My design in this work 
has been to prepare and qualify students of 
theology for the reading of the divine Word, that 
they may have an easy introduction to it and be 
enabled to proceed in it without any obstruction/' 
This characterization of the Institutes by the 
author himself, the fair-minded modern reader 
will not wish to controvert. However much he 
may differ from Calvin in his thinking on certain 
subjects, he must allow the wonderful clearness 
and simplicity of Calvin's theological statements. 

The plan of the work is simple. Adopting the 
Apostles' Creed as a fundamental, four divisions 
are made, God the Father; Jesus the Son; the 
Holy Spirit; the Holy Catholic Church. 

Some insertions have to be made among the 
subjects mentioned in the creed. In the first 
book, about God the Father, is brought in the 
subject of the authority of the Scriptures. The 
second book has as an introduction to the media- 
torial work of Christ, a treatment of that moral 
degradation of man which made mediation neces- 

[20] 



I 



The Calvinism of the Institutes 

sary. The words, "I believe in the Holy Ghost," 
are elaborated to include the whole experience of 
the Christian life, faith, repentance, justification, 
works, Christian liberty, prayer, predestination 
and the future life. The Holy Catholic Church 
finds a like fulness of treatment, including after 
a setting forth of the nature of the true Church, ai 
sketch of the development of the Christian 
Church from the apostolic times down, and state- 
ments regarding councils, church discipline, vows 
and sacraments. The work ends with a chapter 
on civil government. 

It will easily be seen from this outline that the 
Institutes are meant to> include the whole field 
of Christian teaching, meaning by this all the 
subjects of Scriptural doctrine, of developing 
theology and church history. They take up in 
print over thirteen hundred pages. It is very 
obvious that the "Five Points of Calvinism" do 
not even in a condensed form represent this 
great body of teaching. In fact, two of them, 
Limited Atonement and Irresistible Grace are 
not found in the Institutes at all, though doubt- 
less many would claim them to be logical infer- 
ences from statements actually made. A third, 
the Perseverance of the Saints, finds but a brief 
treatment. It is simply stated in a few lines 
that the elect are "beyond all danger of falling 
away because the intercession of the Son of God 
for their perseverance in piety has not been re- 
jected." But the subject he is treating bears a 

[21] 



The Essential Calvinism 

different name and assumes another point of 
view. It is the confirmation of election which 
comes by the effectual calling of God ; in this ex- 
perience the Spirit confirms and seals in the heart 
of the believer the certainty of his eternal sal- 
vation. The later invented phrase scarcely de- 
scribes what Calvin had in mind. 1 

The subjects of the other twoi articles are quite 
fully treated. But the statement of Particular 
Predestination reads very differently, taken in its 
proper place in the Institutes, than when it stands 
by itself alone and briefly and tersely expressed. 
In the latter case it gives an impression of fatal- 
ism. In the former it is merely the theologian's 
working out of the idea of sovereign dominion 
on the part of God, and the purpose of it is to 
picture God as acting and planning with a perfect 
wisdom and justice for each particular human 
being that has come and is to come into the world, 
and all this for the higher ends of creation. This 
presentation of the doctrine of predestination has 
its kindly side; it pictures God as in kindness 
rescuing many of the race from the consequences 
of their own sinfulness. And it is not this doc- 
trine but another that in the last analysis arouses 
the repugnance of the present generation and 
gives to the doctrine of the eternal decree its 
viciousness, i.e., the third of the Five Points, 
Natural Inability. The idea of punishment for 
evil-doing is not repugnant to the normal human 

x See Book III, Ch. XXIV. 

[22] 



The Calvinism of the Institutes 

mind; but punishment for evil-doing in a being 
who has no ability to do> anything else is utterly 
repellent to man's reason and sense of justice. It 
is here that we find the real weakness of Calvin's 
theological system ; the assertion of responsibility 
in a subject who> has no power to meet respon- 
sibility is a complete moral contradiction. It 
takes away the very foundation of ethics. It is 
even a temptation to< believe in an immoral God 
who makes laws for his creatures that they can- 
not obey, and at the same time transcends those 
laws himself for his own purposes. 

However, this does not appear on the surface 
of things as a glaring inconsistency. Calvin 
makes out quite a case in favor of this doctrine. 
The Bible is effectively brought into* requisition, 
especially the writings of Paul. The Church 
Fathers are made to give their contribu- 
tion of opinion and evidence, while Luther and 
nearly all the theologians of the Reformation up- 
hold the doctrine in opposition to the Roman 
doctrine of good works. It is not in any way 
peculiar to Calvin, but was common to the Prot- 
estant thought of his time. 

It seems just to say, then, that the Five Points, 
made so much of in a later time, do not give a 
correct idea of the theological teaching of Calvin, 
but rather are very misleading, giving as they do 
a very different emphasis upon the doctrines 
enunciated and at the same time leaving out 
others of more or equal importance, 

[23] 



The Essential Calvinism 

A comparison of the teaching of the Institutes 
with the Westminster Confession discloses a 
notable resemblance. In fact, it would appear 
that the whole body of doctrine in the confession 
is derivable from the Institutes, if we except 
some things due to the influence of Dutch 
thought. 

Nevertheless there are some very important 
differences. There is, first, the fact that a brief 
formula and an extended treatise cannot state 
the same things in the same way, nor make the 
same impression with the same general ideas, be 
the likenesses ever so close in other respects. It is 
still further true that the Institutes contain some 
important elements and qualities that are lacking 
in the Confession, which make them by far a 
better balanced statement of theology. To put 
it in another way, they contain methods, prin- 
ciples or leading ideas naturally corrective of the 
faults of the system. 

Far more important than the particular forms 
that doctrine took under Calvin's treatment is the 
method which he used in developing doctrine. 
This method needs three words to describe it; it 
is a judicious combination of the rational, critical 
and historical. The subjects of theology are 
named, classified and arranged in a system; each 
subject is then stated, related to other subjects 
and the form of the statement is approved by an 
appeal to reason, to the teaching of the Scriptures 
and to the Church Fathers, and to the evidence 

[24] 



The Calvinism of the Institutes 

which is furnished by the progress of Church his- 
tory and by religious experience. 

The peculiar doctrines which are commonly 
ascribed to Calvin are not nearly so characteristic 
of the man as his way of putting them. For it 
is well understood that these doctrines were 
originally derived from Augustine, but the 
method is Calvin's. The followers of Calvin 
adopted his Augustinianism, but not always his 
method ; hence the rigidity and undeveloping char- 
acter of traditional Calvinism. But though such 
a condition might obtain for a while, it was in- 
evitable that sometime the method which Calvin 
used to express the doctrinal thought of his time, 
should again be used for a restatement of Chris- 
tian doctrine. The free expression of thought 
which was characteristic of the Reformation in 
its early stages, might be checked for a time, but 
it was too nearly the real genius of that great 
movement to be continually restrained. 

It is of the highest importance to appreciate 
this fact for a just valuation of Calvin's theology. 
It shows that real Calvinism did not need to be- 
come formal or rigid; that it had within itself a 
corrective force that only needed an opportunity 
to show itself to> lead to a review of the evi- 
dence and data upon which Christian doctrine is 
based. Any personal peculiarity of opinion on 
Calvin's part, or any false emphasis that was put 
upon some form of Christian truth in that genera- 
tion, or even any fault of judgment, is subject 

[25] 



The Essential Calvinism 

to correction in just that same way and by that 
same method by which Calvin sought with so 
much success to correct the erroneous teaching 
and practises of the Middle Ages, 

Of not so great importance, but yet approach- 
ing it, is another principle set forth in the 
Institutes, the significance of which was lost in 
the succeeding generations. This was the plac- 
ing above the formal authority of the Scriptures 
the religious consciousness as acted upon by the 
Holy Spirit, — a continued inspiration, not, in- 
deed, in the sense that new revelation is given, 
but that it is the testimony of the Spirit to 
the individual mind that finally establishes the 
authority of the revelation already given. The 
truth of the Scriptures is not a thing demon- 
strable through reason, but it is a thing which 
is realizable to the spiritual mind. "It obtains 
the credit which it deserves with us by the tes- 
timony of the Spirit. For though it conciliates 
us by its internal majesty, it never seriously af- 
fects us, till it is confirmed by the Spirit in our 
hearts." 2 

This principle the makers of the Westminster 
Confession did not fail to recognize, but never- 
theless such a formal idea of Scriptural inspira- 
tion came to prevail that the significance of the 
idea was totally obscured. So this principle, 
though great in potentiality, failed to become a 
real part of traditional Calvinism. Instead, the 

2 Book I, Ch. VII. 

[26] 



The Calvinism of the Institutes 

doctrine of verbal inspiration was carried to such 
an extreme as to stand in the way of freedom of 
thought and interpretation, and theological prog- 
ress was at a standstill. 

Another feature of the Institutes that is of cor- 
rective influence, is Calvin's presentation of the 
nature of the Christian life. A comparison is 
often made between the Westminster Confession 
and the Heidelberg Catechism to the effect that 
the one deals with Christian belief and the other 
with Christian living. Calvin's treatment of the 
subject of Christian living relates itself to the 
method of the Heidelberg Catechism. It is a 
noble conception of true Christian living ; the doc- 
trinaire is merged in the preacher and five chap- 
ters follow one another upon this theme. 3 

Calvin starts out with the thought that the first 
thing in the Christian life is "that a love of right- 
eousness, to which we have otherwise no natural 
propensity, be instilled into our hearts." But 
granted this divine beginning, the Christian life 
thereafter becomes an attempt on the part of 
man to be like his heavenly Father. 

A goal is set for man to reach, a type of per- 
fect living given in the person of Christ, and the 
Christian is not one who has attained perfection, 
but one who* is advancing toward it. "Let us 
every one proceed according to our small ability, 
and prosecute the journey we have begun. No 
man will be so unhappy but that every day he 

3 Book III, Ch. VI— X. 

[2 7 ] 



The Essential Calvinism 

may make some progress, however small. There- 
fore let us not cease to strive that we may be 
incessantly advancing in the way of the Lord; 
nor let us despair on account of the smallness 
of our success; for however our success may not 
correspond to our wishes, yet our labor is not lost 
when this day surpasses the preceding one, pro- 
vided that with sincere simplicity we keep our 
end in view and press forward to the goal, not 
practising self-adulation, nor indulging our evil 
propensities, but perpetually exerting our en- 
deavors after increasing degrees of amelioration 
till we shall have arrived at a perfection of good- 
ness, which, indeed, we seek and pursue as long 
as we live, and shall then attain, when divested 
of our corporeal infirmity we shall be admitted by 
God into complete communion with him." 

This effort to obtain perfect goodness follows 
along three lines of activity, which Calvin finds 
mentioned in Paul's letter to Titus (Titus 2 : 12), 
sobriety, righteousness and godliness. "Sobriety 
undoubtedly means chastity and temperance, 
as well as a pure and frugal use of tem- 
poral blessings, and patience under poverty. 
Righteousness includes all the duties of equity, 
that every man may receive what is his due. God- 
liness separates us from the pollution of the 
world, and by true holiness unites us to God. 
When these virtues are indissolubly connected, 
they produce absolute perfection.' 9 But the at- 
tainment of these virtues comes only by a process 

[ 28 ] 



The Calvinism of the Institutes 

of self-denial, first for the glory of God, then in 
the service of men, through whom God would 
have us pay our debt to him. 

In another section Calvin adds, "Moreover, 
that we may be not weary of doing good, which 
otherwise would of necessity be the case, we must 
add also the other character mentioned by the 
apostle, that 'charity suffereth long, and ... is not 
easily provoked.' " Very vigorously he then puts 
the case. "Whoever, therefore, is presented 
to you that needs your kind offices, you have no 
reason to refuse him your assistance. Say that 
he is a stranger; yet the Lord has impressed on 
him a character which ought to be familiar to 
you; for which reason he forbids you to despise 
your own flesh. Say that he is contemptible and 
worthless; but the Lord shows him to be one 
whom he has deigned to grace with his image. 
Say that you are obliged to him for no services; 
but God has made him, as it were, his substitute, 
to whom you acknowledge yourself to be under 
obligations for numerous and important benefits. 
. . . If he not only has deserved no- favor, but on 
the contrary has provoked you with injuries and 
insults, even this is no reason why you should not 
embrace him with your affection, and perform 
for him the offices of love." 

An important branch of self-denial is cross- 
bearing. The difficulties, the sorrows, the in- 
firmities, the misfortunes of life are a discipline 
which the child of God undergoes that he may be 

[29] 



The Essential Calvinism 

taught to look to the eternal in place of the tem- 
poral, and gain patience, endurance and Christ- 
like character. 

This view of the Christian life is completed by 
a most sensible treatment of the subject of the 
Christian use of temporal blessings. A balance 
is to be held between the ascetic and the indulgent 
use of life and the means of its support, and this 
balance is to be found in using tilings in the way 
and for the purpose that God intended. "It 
must be laid down as a principle, that the use of 
the gifts of God is not erroneous, when it is 
directed to the same end for which the Creator 
himself has created and appointed them for us; 
since he has created them for our benefit, not for 
our injury." 

"Shall the Lord have endued the flowers with 
such beauty, to present itself to our eyes, with 
such sweetness of smell, to impress our sense of 
smelling; and shall it be unlawful for our eyes to 
be affected with the beautiful sight, or our 
olfactory nerves with the agreeable odor? What! 
has he not made such a distinction of colors as to 
render some more agreeable than others? Has 
he not given to gold and silver, to ivory and 
marble, a beauty which makes them more precious 
than other metals and stones? In a word, has 
he not made many things worthy of our estima- 
tion, independently of any necessary use?" 

"Let us discard, then, that inhuman philosophy, 
which, allowing no use of the creatures but 

[30] 



The Calvinism of the Institutes 

what is absolutely necessary, not only deprives 
us of the lawful enjoyment of the divine bene- 
ficence, but which cannot be embraced till it 
has despoiled man of all his senses and reduced 
him to a senseless block. But on the other hand, 
we must with equal diligence oppose the licen- 
tiousness of the flesh/' 

This is a forceful presentation of Christian 
living, and whatever philosophy of salvation may 
accompany it, as long as it is preached it will 
have strong appeal to the human heart. 

One other subject deserves comment along this 
line. It is customary to speak of the sovereignty 
of God as the central theme of Calvinism. It is 
very true that Calvin depicts God as a sovereign 
ruler. But this is not all. This term very im- 
perfectly describes the thought of Calvin. It is 
a criticism rather than a characterization. A 
large amount of sovereignty must be ascribed to 
God in any system of theism, and we have again 
to note that the difficulty here is not with the doc- 
trine but with the slavery of the human will which 
apparently accentuates the force of the divine will. 

It seems to the author that a truer character- 
ization of Calvin's idea of God would be that 
he is the great active personality of the universe. 
The speculative subject of w r hat God is, in him- 
self, finds almost no mention in the Institutes. 
Even the doctrine of the Trinity is explained 
chiefly by Scriptural quotation and annotation. 
God is described to us almost altogether by his 

[31] 



The Essential Calvinism 

doings. He is Creator of the world, he is Pre- 
server as well. All things take place under his 
knowledge and power. God is set forth as 
trinity, not so much essentially, as in effecting the 
salvation of men and in bringing about the de- 
sired course and progress of world history. God, 
as Calvin describes him, is not so much the All- 
powerful One, the All-present, the All-wise, the 
All-holy One, as he is the All-active One. The 
effect of such a presentation of the divine nature 
is to give an intense impression of God as a per- 
son, the master person in a world of lesser per- 
sons, the father spirit in the world of human 
spirits. 

It would be hard to estimate the effect that this 
idea of God had upon the world of Calvin's time. 
It has been often asserted that the Calvinist's 
surety of election kept him true in the severest 
trials and gave to him that sturdy moral character 
which so evidently impressed itself upon the 
history of the Netherlands, Scotland and Eng- 
land. Would it not be more in accord with the 
truth, to say that it was due to his sureness, not 
of himself, but of God and the triumph of God's 
cause? The mere fact of being assured of sal- 
vation from death, has, in itself, no incentive to 
action. But the surety in the Calvinist's mind 
that God was doing great things and had set him 
to do great things also gave to him an influ- 
ence and power in the developing life of the 
time out of all proportion to his natural gifts. 

[32] 



The Calvinism of the Institutes 

Further it may be said, that if Calvin taught 
the divine decree he also taught the divine love. 
Since the former doctrine is so intimately con- 
nected with his name, it is only justice that we 
should remember his teaching on the other sub- 
ject. 

"Because the Lord will not lose in us that 
which is his own, he yet discovers something that 
his goodness may love. For notwithstanding 
we are sinners through our own fault, yet we are 
still his creatures; notwithstanding we have 
brought death upon ourselves, yet he had created 
us for life. Thus, by a pure and gratuitous love 
toward us, he is excited to receive us into favor. 
But if there is a perpetual and irreconcilable op- 
position between righteousness and iniquity, he 
cannot receive us entirely, as long as we remain 
sinners. Therefore, to remove all occasion of 
enmity, and to reconcile us completely to himself, 
he abolishes all our guilt, by the expiation ex- 
hibited in the death of Christ, that we, who be- 
fore were polluted and impure, may appear right- 
eous and holy in his sight. The love of God 
the Father therefore precedes our reconciliation 
in Christ; or rather it is because he first loves, 
that he afterwards reconciles us to himself." 4 

We discover, then, in the Institutes, four great 
principles or ideas, which make the work remark- 
able beyond its specific doctrinal teachings; a 
scientific method of treating and arranging the 
4 Book II, Ch. XVI. 

[33] 



The Essential Calvinism 



material of Christian doctrine; an emphasis 
upon the importance of a personal spiritual ex- 
perience for the understanding and expression of 
religious truth; a most sensible, practical and 
vital exposition of Christian living; and the 
setting forth of God through a description of his 
doings as the supreme and all-active personality 
of the universe. 



[34] 



CHAPTER III 

THE THEOLOGICAL SOURCES 
OF THE INSTITUTES 



CHAPTER III 



THE THEOLOGICAL SOURCES OF THE 
INSTITUTES 

When an author presents a book to the public, 
it is taken for granted that he has made use of a 
certain amount of material from other writers an- 
cient or modern, especially if his work be in the 
line of history, theology or philosophy. It is 
likewise to be expected that the book, if it has 
any particular merit, contains something original 
and valuable contributed by the author himself, 
either in material, arrangement, method of treat- 
ment or philosophical standpoint. To distinguish 
between these two elements is often of great 
critical and historical value as showing the prog- 
ress of some important movement, the develop- 
ment of some phase of doctrine, or establishing 
the worth and describing the work of any great 
leader or school. 

The theological system of John Calvin, as set 
forth in his 'Institutes of the Christian Religion," 
is of such historic importance as to warrant the 
attempt to make this distinction in its material 
and construction, that we may learn, if possible, 
to what extent he made use of other theological 
writings and discover, as well, wherein lay the 
secret of his success as a theologian and his 

[37] 



The Essential Calvinism 

prominence among the leaders of thought in 
Reformation times. It is with this purpose in 
view that this chapter has been prepared. 

The investigation of the subject thus presented 
follows naturally along three lines. (i) The 
statements made by Calvin himself in his dif- 
ferent writings. (2) The circumstances and 
events of Calvin's life as described in different 
documents and narrated by his biographers. (3) 
A comparison of the theology of the Institutes 
with that of the other leaders of the Reforma- 
tion. 

I. The Statements of Calvin 

In the successive editions of the Institutes 
Calvin refers continually to different authorities 
in theology and history and makes frequent 
quotations from them. In the last edition, the 
pages are comparatively few on which there is 
not found at least one such reference. But it 
does not necessarily follow that when allusion is 
made to another writer, confession of indebted- 
ness is thereby acknowledged. Every writer in 
theology seeks corroboration even for his 
peculiar tenets, and so Calvin. Nevertheless in 
a large number of cases it is not only apparent that 
he derives his material from other sources, but it 
is necessarily so from the nature of the acknowl- 
edgment, or the dominance of a certain method of 
thought, which finds expression in his theology. 

This is manifestly true in regard to the con- 

[33] 



The Theological Sources of the Institutes 

structive use which is made of the Bible. It is 
very extensively quoted. It is looked upon as 
the final and sufficient authority on all questions 
of doctrine. Calvin made use of it more 
thoroughly and consistently than any of the other 
Reformers. He was minutely familiar with all 
its parts, and wrote scholarly commentaries on 
most of its books. He was acquainted with the 
original languages in which it was written, and 
though he never formally undertook the work of 
translation, yet he helped to revise the French 
translation of Olivetan, and in his different 
writings are contained renderings in French and 
Latin of a large portion of it. 

In the construction of his theological system 
all this knowledge is brought into play. In the 
last edition of the Institutes, all but five of the 
canonical books are used as sources of doctrinal 
material, and almost the whole teaching of the 
Scriptures is reproduced. The total number of 
quotations thus made use of is about three 
thousand. 

But while all the books of the canon are re- 
garded as available for theological purposes, 
there are certain ones that Calvin selects, if we 
may judge by the frequency of quotation, as of 
more importance than others in the establishing 
of doctrine. In the first edition of the Institutes, 
that of 1536, the most used book is the Epistle 
to the Romans. In successive editions Calvin 
quoted more and more from the Old Testament, 

[39] 



The Essential Calvinism 

especially from the Psalms, which at last affords 
the greatest number of quotations. But the rela- 
tive importance of the Epistle to the Romans is 
not thereby diminished, nor is there any essential 
doctrinal change apparent in the later editions. 

The great influence of Paul on Calvin's state- 
ments of doctrine may be shown also by the pro- 
portion in which his writings as a whole are used, 
as compared with other portions of the Bible. Fifty 
per cent of the quotations from the New Testa- 
ment are from Paul's epistles though they form 
but twenty-five per cent of its printed matter. 
Thirty per cent of the quotations from the whole 
Bible are from Paul, and in the first edition, the 
formative one, the proportion is thirty-five per 
cent. The four Gospels, which in print take up 
more than twice the amount of space required 
for Paul's writings, are yet consulted less fre- 
quently. 

This dependence upon Paul is still more 
manifest if we take note of the doctrines most 
extensively treated by Calvin: the Trinity, the 
divine sovereignty, election, reprobation, human 
depravity, justification by faith, repentance. 
These Calvin refers directly to the statements of 
Paul. They are doctrines especially emphasized 
by him. Paul is Calvin's chief authority. 

But why should a theologian who had recourse 
to all parts of the Scriptures be so partial to one 
particular writer? A further study of the 
Institutes furnishes at least a partial answer. 

[ 40 ] 



The Theological Sources of the Institutes 

Next to the Bible Calvin quotes most from the 
works of Augustine. Of the eighty chapters in 
the last edition, about sixty contain quotations 
from, or references to, this noted Church father, 
a single chapter often containing a large number. 
He is appealed to generally throughout the 
entire treatise, but it is to be noted that those 
portions in which the references are most fre- 
quent relate to those very same doctrines named 
above as being specially characteristic of the Cal- 
vinistic system of theology. 

The question comes easily to mind, Is not Cal- 
vinism, then, simply a Reformation statement of 
Augustinianism ? It has been so 1 considered. But 
it must be said that Calvin does not follow 
Augustine slavishly. He is eclectic in his use of 
this source. He often quotes only to condemn, 
and holds every doctrinal point as subject to the 
Scriptures. There is much, too, in Calvin's 
writings that we may seek in vain for in the 
works of Augustine. 

It is also to be considered, that while this 
Church father was most quoted, other men of 
like authority and antiquity are frequently con- 
sulted. Notable among these are Irenseus, 
Eusebius, Chrysostom, Origen, Cyprian, Jerome, 
Ambrose, Tertullian, Aquinas, Bernard and 
Lombard. The decrees of the <*reat church 
councils are also made use of. The classical 
writers of heathen Rome — Virgil, Cicero 1 , Ovid, 
Seneca — are made to bear witness to the truth ; 

[41] 



The Essential Calvinism 

and the ancient philosophers Socrates, Plato 
and Aristotle are brought in to testify in matters 
relating to theology. 

This list of authorities as gathered from the 
Institutes is remarkable for its omission of the 
names of the theologians of the Reformation. In 
other of Calvin's writings, however, he makes 
mention of his connection with the other Re- 
formers. 

We may gather from his letters that he enter- 
tained a high regard for Luther and his work. 
In a letter to him written in January 1545, he 
appealed to him for approval upon some of his 
publications. In the previous year, writing to 
Bullinger, he says of Luther, "Although he were 
to call me a devil, I should still not the less hold 
him in such honor that I must acknowledge him 
to be an illustrious servant of God." Still earlier, 
in a letter written to Farel from Strasburg in 
1539, he is almost jubilant because Luther had 
sent greetings to him through Bucer and had said 
by way of compliment, "Whose books I have 
read with special delight/' Writing to Farel in 
the same year he estimates Luther as greater 
than Zwingli. 

Calvin's correspondence also reveals great re- 
spect for Martin Bucer, whose intimate friend he 
was. He says of him in a letter to Bullinger, 
written in March 1539. "Endowed with a singu- 
larly acute and remarkably clear judgment, ... no 
one is more desirous to keep within the simplicity 

[42] 



The Theological Sources of the Institutes 

of the word of God, and less given to hunt after 
niceties of interpretation that are quite foreign 
to it." Writing again to Bullinger in 1548 in 
defence of Bucer, who seems to have fallen under 
the suspicion of the Swiss Reformers, he identifies 
himself with Bucer on the question of the Lord's 
Supper and other questions with the purpose of 
mediating between the two parties. In the pre- 
face to this commentary on the Epistle to the 
Romans, Calvin ascribes great honor to 
Melancthon, Bullinger and Bucer for work done 
previously upon the same book. Also in the 
closing words of the introduction to his har- 
mony of the Gospels, he says that, in the treat- 
ment of this subject, he imitates Bucer. On the 
other hand, Calvin seems to have used quite an 
authoritative tone toward his colleague. A 
letter written to him in February 1549 is thor- 
oughly hortatory and didactic. It is such as a 
bishop might have written to an under-shepherd. 

In a letter to Viret from Strasburg in May 
1540, Capito and CEcolampadius are highly 
praised and recommended for their commentaries 
on Isaiah. 

There remains one more to whom Calvin openly 
gave tribute, Melchior Wolmar his former in- 
structor in Greek. To him he dedicated his com- 
mentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 
with words of praise, and thanks him personally 
for the start he had given him in the study of the 
Greek language. 

[43] 



The Essential Calvinism 

We find in Calvin's own words no clear 
statement of indebtedness to the theologians of 
his own time. We turn, therefore, to his biogra- 
phers, if perchance they may shed some light on 
this question. 

II. The: Statements of the Biographers. 

Calvin, according to his own words in the in- 
troduction to his commentary on the Psalms, did 
not owe his conversion to any human agency. He 
declares that "God himself produced the change. 
He instantly subdued my heart to obedience." 

We may not from this assertion hastily con- 
clude that there had been no preparation for the 
change that came at last so suddenly. All the 
historical evidence is to the contrary. While 
Calvin was yet a boy the Reformation doctrines 
came under general discussion throughout 
Europe, and his university course was carried on 
while the battle was still hot. A man in his 
position could not fail to realize this nor remain 
unaffected by it. 

It seems from a historical point of view that 
the first man to affect Calvin's religious opinions 
was Erasmus. Calvin expressed as a youth a 
great admiration for this scholar and called him 
"the honor and delight of the world of letters." 
His first outlook upon the religious condition of 
the times was in likeness to Erasmus, that of the 
Humanist, as was true also of Melancthon and 
Zwingli. It was in the spirit of this school of 

[44] 



The Theological Sources of the Institutes 

culture that he wrote his commentary on Seneca's 
"De Clementia," published in April 1532. 
Moreover, to be a follower of Erasmus meant 
something more than to be a man of letters or 
classical scholar; it involved also a study of the 
Bible, in which Calvin was already proficient, 
and an attitude of criticism toward the existing 
state of affairs in the Church, together with a 
desire for reform. That Calvin had reached 
this position also follows almost necessarily from 
the fact that his conversion to the cause of the 
antipapal reformers came within a short time 
after the publication of the commentary on 
Seneca. 

Another leader to whom Calvin must have 
owed something of suggestion and influence was 
Lefevre d'Etaples. Doumergue in his " Vie de 
Calvin" has a chapter describing at considerable 
length the life and work of this man. Like 
Erasmus, Lefevre was desirous of a reform with- 
out schism, but was more optimistic and more 
evangelical. He was the real father of the 
French Reformation. He entertained evan- 
gelical ideas before Luther's reformatory activity 
began. In 15 12 he published a commentary on 
the Epistles of Paul in which were set forth some 
of the fundamental doctrines of Protestantism. 
Later he issued a translation of the Bible in 
French. He was an instructor in the University 
of Paris and as such had much to do with the 
training of Gerard Roussel, Melchior Wolmar, 

[45] 



The Essential Calvinism 

William Farel and others important in the 
religious life of that time. Henry asserts that 
Lefevre was one of Calvin's instructors, but 
this does not appear possible as he left his posi- 
tion as instructor in 1521, two years before Cal- 
vin began his university studies. But the 
movement which was started by Lefevre could 
scarcely have escaped the attention of any wide- 
awake student in the French universities. Later 
on the two men became acquainted and conferred 
together on the great questions of the times. 

It has been noted above that Calvin owed much 
to Melchior Wolmar for instruction in the Greek 
language and literature. There is some con- 
troversy as to how far Wolmar' s influence over 
Calvin led in the direction of reform. Henry 
claims that he was largely influential in the con- 
version of Calvin, or at least inculcated in his 
mind the principles of the evangelical school. But 
later writers deny this, pointing to the fact that 
Calvin did not manifest such conversion till con- 
siderably later and also to the fact that in the 
dedication of the commentary on the Second 
Epistle to the Corinthians, while he acknowledges 
his indebtedness to Wolmar for his foundation 
in Greek learning and for personal interest and 
affection, he makes no mention of any influence 
in the direction of reform. 

Lefranc, in "La Jeunesse de Calvin," claims 
that Calvin's immediate conversion was due to the 
efforts of Pierre Robert (Olivetan). This man 
[46] 



The Theological Sources of the Institutes 

was a relative of Calvin, and like him a native 
of Noyon. After studying in one of the French 
universities he went to Strasburg, and while 
there came under the instruction of Bucer, the 
leading Reformer of that city. He became a con- 
vert to the Reformation and joined a coterie of 
young Picards who held Lutheran doctrines. 
Returning to Noyon he began to promulgate his 
new opinions and became the leader of a com- 
pany of Protestants there. Calvin while on a 
visit to his home encountered his cousin and was 
by him induced to come over to> the side of the 
Protestants. Such is the theory advanced by 
Lefranc. 

In "Die Bekehrung Calvin's" Lang questions, 
on good evidence apparently, if the facts pre- 
sented by Lefranc are sufficient to warrant the 
conclusion that there was an organized body of 
Protestants in Noyon before the time of Calvin's 
conversion. The existence of such a body in 1534 
might have been due as much to Calvin as to 
Olivetan. To this criticism is added Calvin's 
own declaration that his awakening was of God. 
Within these limitations the influence of Olivetan 
may be considered probable, for Beza in his ac- 
count of Calvin's life, states that, "Calvin had 
through his relative and friend received a cer- 
tain taste for the pure religion and from then 
began to withdraw from the papal superstitions," 
Just what period in Calvin's life this refers to 
must be a matter of conjecture. Lang is of the 

[473 



The Essential Calvinism 

opinion that it relates to a time anterior to his 
conversion. There is certainly nothing in Beza's 
statement that might not refer to a change like 
that of Lefevre, a devotion to a Biblical Chris- 
tianity while still within the ancient Church. But 
it is more than likely that this influence, once 
exerted, would continue as did their friendship. 
Within a year or two of Calvin's conversion they 
were at work together in the interests of the Re- 
formation. This was during the preparation of 
the first edition of the Institutes. It would 
appear, then, that through Olivetan, Calvin was 
indirectly brought into connection w T ith the 
Reformation under Bucer, who was a disciple of 
Luther. 

A more direct connection with Bucer is sug- 
gested by a letter which Calvin wrote him in Sep- 
tember 1532 from Noyon. The object of the 
letter is to recommend to Bucer' s care a certain 
French refugee who was in hard circumstances. 
Certain presumptions are created by this letter. 
It is not distinctly stated that the refugee was a 
Protestant, but inasmuch as he was suspected of 
being an Anabaptist, wrongly as we may judge 
by the letter, and is committed to the care of the 
leading Reformer of Strasburg, the implication 
is that he was of the Reformed faith. There is 
a similar presumption in regard to Calvin him- 
self. He is evidently known to Bucer. He 
signs himself simply "Calvin/ 5 The in- 
ference would be that Bucer knew of him as a 
[48] 



The Theological Sources of the Institutes 

Protestant, else how should the recommendation 
be of any avail or even reasonable? 

Two years later Calvin, himself a refugee, 
sought an asylum at Strasburg, and was wel- 
comed by Bucer. But he soon left Strasburg 
and went to Basel where he finished the prepara- 
tion of his Institutes, In this region he came 
within the circle of influence of both the 
Lutheran and Zwinglian Reformers and became 
acquainted more or less intimately with Bucer, 
Capito, Grynseus, Myconius and Bullinger. 

We find from the biographers of Calvin that 
before the publication of the first edition of the 
Institutes he came in contact with such important 
Reformers as Lefevre, Bucer and Bullinger and 
their associates; that he was familiar with the 
writings of Erasmus, and probably had read the 
chief works of Luther, Melancthon and Zwingli, 
or at least had become familiar with their re- 
spective tenets. There is no historical evidence 
that he was a disciple of any particular one of 
them. 

A further investigation carries us into the field 
of comparative theology. 

III. Calvin's Theology as Compared With 
That of Othsr Rsformkrs. 
Two things are evident in regard to the Refor- 
mation sources of Calvin's theology. (i) 
Calvin had the teaching and experience of all the 
Reformers to draw from. It is most improbable 
[49] 



The Essential Calvinism 

that with such a wide outlook a man of his 
capacities would slavishly follow any one of them. 
He could scarcely have attained to that power 
and influence which made his career so extraor- 
dinary, if he had been so dependent in this re- 
gard. (2) Calvin was in the second generation 
of Reformers. Protestant doctrines were pro- 
claimed in his native land long before his 
conversion. He was not one of the original 
formulators of those doctrines. The field for 
original work was, then, considerably narrowed 
for him. If we are to look for originality in 
Calvin's work it must be either in an improved 
treatment of doctrines already enunciated, in ad- 
ditions thereto, or their better arrangement along 
some dominant principle or new method. 

A certain set of doctrines containing a peculiar 
theory of redemption is associated with the name 
of Calvin. Chiefly they are these : the authority 
of the Scriptures, a strict teaching of the Trinity, 
predestination, moral depravity, sacrificial atone- 
ment and justification by faith. It has already 
been stated that Augustine taught these doctrines 
in the same form and relation. There is one 
qualification however. The assertion that the 
authority of the Scriptures is supreme, while as- 
sociated with the Augustinian evangelism in the 
teaching of the Reformers, is not strictly a part 
of the system though in no way out of harmony 
with it. Augustine asserted the authority of the 
Scriptures, but he also asserted the authority of 
[ 50 ] 



The Theological Sources of the Institutes 

the Church. For that reason the principle does 
not have the same relative position in his 
theology as with the Reformers. 

But in other respects the comparison is very 
complete. In regard to the doctrine of the 
Trinity we find him stating in his "De Trinitate," 
"The Father, Son and Spirit are not three gods 
but one God"; and "are of the same substance in 
an indivisible equality." 1 

In the same book, speaking of sovereignty 
and predestination, he says, "The will of God is 
the first and highest cause of all corporeal ap- 
pearances and motions." (Book m, Ch. iv.) 
And again in the "Enchiridion," "Who will be so 
foolish and blasphemous as to say that God can- 
not change the evil wills of men, whichever, 
whenever, wherever he chooses? But when he 
does it, he does it of mercy ; and when he does it 
not, of justice he does it not." (Ch. xcvm.) 

In the "Enchiridion" we also find this statement 
of moral depravity, "By his (Adam's) sin the 
whole race, of which he was the root, was cor- 
rupted in him and thereby subjected to the 
penalty of death, and so it happens that all who 
are descended from him are tainted with the 
original sin." (Ch. xxvi.) 

Writing of the atonement in the same book, 
he says, "That one sin is of so heinous a character 
that in one man the whole human race was 
originally, and as one may say, radically con- 
1 Book I, Ch. IV. 

[51] 



The Essential Calvinism 

demned, and it cannot be pardoned and blotted 
out except through the one mediator between 
God and man, Christ Jesus, who only has had 
the power to be so born as not to need a second 
birth." (Ch. xxvm.) 

In the "Enchiridion" we find this assertion in 
regard to justification: "But that part of the hu- 
man race to which God has promised pardon, can 
they be restored through the merit of their own 
works? God forbid! For what works can a 
lost man perform except so far as he has been 
delivered from perdition? Can they do any- 
thing by the free determination of their own 
will? Again I say God forbid!" (Ch. xxx.) 
"And lest men should arrogate to themselves the 
merit of their own faith, not understanding that 
this too is the gift of God, that same apostle 
(Paul) says, 'And this not of yourselves, it is 
the gift of God/" (Ch. xxxi.) Again he 
says, "God justifies the ungodly not only by re- 
mitting the evil he has done, but also by impart- 
ing love, which rejects the evil and does the 
good. . . . The ungodly are justified by the grace 
of God;" — i.e., from being ungodly are made 
righteous." 

But this emphasis on justification, though it 
may have been suggestive to Luther as he pon- 
dered over the works of Augustine, fails con- 
siderably of expressing what the doctrine meant 
to him. There is a confusing of justification 
with sanctification ; there is also a lacking of 
[52] 



The Theological Sources of the Institutes 

the idea which figures so largely in Luther's pres- 
entation of faith as a great spiritual experience, 
the human basis of justification; so also with 
Calvin. 

But with one or two obvious exceptions the 
likeness between the teaching of Augustine and 
Calvin is very plain. In fact, some theologians 
have preferred to pass by Calvin, and take their 
starting point in Augustine for the exposition of 
this system of evangelical theology. 

Calvin was not alone in his appeal to 
Augustine. All the great Reformers, and 
Luther more than the others, looked to Augustine 
for authority. There were good reasons for 
this. A great contest was on, first between two 
parties in the Roman Church, then later between 
hostile organizations. It was a question of right 
and authority. Luther and the other Reformers 
found in the works of Augustine teachings that 
fitted in with their way of thinking. As he was 
one of the most revered of the Latin Fathers, it 
was of tremendous advantage to be able to point 
to him and show that he centuries before had 
taught the very things that the Reformation 
theology put so much emphasis upon. The 
enemy was made to furnish weapons for the cam- 
paign and they were used most effectively. 

Then, too, the situation in the world of 
theology favored such a move. Two types of 
thought were contesting the field before the Ref- 
ormation began, and most thinkers had taken 

[53] 



The Essential Calvinism 

sides in sympathy with one or the other, — 
Augustinianism and Pelagianism. As between the 
two there seemed to be but one choice for the 
Reformer. To start a reform on the basis of 
Pelagianism and with the aid of Pelagians was 
out of the question. There was need of some- 
thing more positive, more evangelistic, and this 
the Reformers found in the system of Augustine. 

There was still another source of power in the 
adoption of Augustinianism. The common refer- 
ence of all the Reformers to Augustine as an 
authority gave them a unity of thought that was 
of great service. Had they not had such a one 
to look to in the past, had they had the task of 
stating the truths of the gospel entirely anew at 
that strenuous time, the result must have been 
an utter confusion of religious thought, and so a 
lesser success for the Reformation. 

Considering that Calvin became the user of 
these Augustinian doctrines, it will be of impor- 
tance to find out, if it be possible, how he first 
came by them, whether directly, or through some 
one or more of the Reformers. 

First we may note that the supreme authority 
of the Scriptures was asserted before the time of 
the Reformation by Wycliff and Huss, but the 
honor of formulating the doctrine for the 
sixteenth century rests with Erasmus. He fur- 
thermore devoted much of his time to the study 
of the Bible, and prepared an edition of the Greek 
New Testament which proved a weapon of great 

[54] 



The Theological Sources of the Institutes 

value to the Reformers. The authority of the 
Scriptures became the objective principle of the 
Reformation, and was reasserted in essentially 
the same form by Lefevre, Zwingli, Luther and 
Calvin. But it was Luther who really made it 
a. Protestant principle by offsetting with it the 
authority of Pope and Church, when he came in 
open conflict with them, and appealed to the 
Christian world for sympathy and help. 

It is likewise true that while both Erasmus and 
Lefevre had advocated the doctrine of justifica- 
tion by faith, it was Luther who actually placed 
it before the world and made it a distinct tenet of 
the Reformation cause. The force and power 
with which he did this more effectively than the 
others, rested not in a better understanding of 
the doctrinal side of the question, but in the fact 
of a strong personal experience of the truth ex- 
pressed in the doctrine. While a monk in the 
Augustinian convent at Erfurt, he had been 
greatly troubled by the sense of personal guilt 
and his relief from this burden had come through 
some hints from an older monk, from the vicar 
of the Augustinian order in Germany, John of 
Staupitz, who was a disciple of the mystic 
Tauler, and from a careful study of the Epistles 
of Paul, whereby he had reached a spiritual state 
of freedom and peace. His strong insistence 
upon this doctrine made it the subjective prin- 
ciple of the Reformation. 

It was through an order of John of Staupitz, 

[55] 



The Essential Calvinism 

that the monks in the Augustinian monasteries 
of Germany should study the works of their 
patron saint, probably, that Luther came to have 
a full and direct knowledge of the theological 
teaching of Augustine. In addition to the 
reverence that Luther felt for the namesake of 
his order, there was that in the Latin Father, his 
strong experience of Christianity, and his strong 
way of putting doctrines, that appealed to a man 
of Luther's nature. After his revolt from Rome, 
as well as before, Luther held to a strict Augus- 
tinian theology of redemption, adding thereto by 
conviction and experience the supreme authority 
of the Scriptures and justification by faith. In 
this form Augustinianism became an integral 
part of Lutheranism, and wherever Lutheran 
doctrines were carried there went also the 
Augustinian evangelism. 

It was doubtless in this form that Calvin first 
became acquainted with the teachings of the 
German Reformation. Not, as we should judge 
by his own words, by the reading of Luther's 
works, but as ideas that became prevalent and 
common all over Europe as representing the 
teachings of Luther. But it would seem that 
Calvin accepted the Lutheran program as a 
whole. This is not equivalent to saying that 
this was the only source of his Protestantism. We 
must keep in mind his knowledge of the teach- 
ings of Erasmus, Lefevre and Wolmar while he 
was still a student, and that these men repre- 

[56] 



The Theological Sources of the Institutes 

sented the drift toward Protestantism, though 
their statements were not so pronounced as those 
of Luther. 

But the acceptance of Lutheran Augustinian- 
ism is not the most remarkable thing in the doc- 
trinal resemblance between Calvin and Luther. 
Calvin acquiesced not only in what Luther pro- 
jected, but also in what he rejected. Luther 
gave up the worship of saints, the sacrifice of the 
mass, the celibacy of the priesthood, the doctrine 
of purgatory, the authority of Church and coun- 
cils, the claims of the papacy, communion in one 
kind and the five so-called sacraments of confir- 
mation, penance, extreme unction, ecclesiastical 
orders and matrimony. With the least possible 
variation this is likewise the program of Calvin, 
and all this appears in the very first edition of the 
Institutes. But even this needs qualification. 
Independently, Zwingli, the Swiss Reformer, had 
come to very similar conclusions. Protestantism 
w r as a tendency of the times, in evidence all 
through western Europe, originating before the 
time of Luther and Zwingli, and only coming to 
an organized expression under them. Its lead- 
ing ideas were not the possession of any one man 
or group of men. 

We are led, then, to ask the question, Does 
Calvin resemble Luther so strikingly as to pre- 
clude the influence of other Reformers upon his 
thinking ? 

It is easy to see that Calvin is not in the same 

[57] 



The Essential Calvinism 

class of Reformers as Erasmus and Lefevre. 
Their Protestantism was of a milder type and 
went no further than to plan a reform within the 
Church. But there are two other Reformers to 
whom we might look as being in a position to 
strongly influence Calvin — Zwingli and Bucer. 

Zwingli no less than Luther insists on the 
sovereignty of God, but on the counter subject 
of moral inability there is a divergence. While 
he believes in the depravity of man, and cites 
many passages of Scripture in proof, commenting 
on each one in order, he does not come to any 
definite statement, nor does he assert man's com- 
plete moral inability. In regard to the doctrine 
of the Trinity also, he shows a divergence. He 
places a great deal of emphasis on the immanence 
of God, and also on the work of Christ, but he 
does not treat extensively the subject of the work 
of the Holy Spirit. He thus presents a less 
balanced theory of the Trinity than either Luther 
or Calvin. 

The most notable difference is Zwingli's doc- 
trine of the Lord's Supper. With the other Re- 
formers he denied the fact of transubstantiation 
of the elements. But he goes much farther than 
they. It was to him an observance in the nature 
of a commemoration only. "The mass is not a 
sacrament, but a commemoration of the sacrifice 
offered on the cross once for all." 1 

"It is not possible to demonstrate from the 

1 Sixty-seven Articles. No. xviii. 

[58] 



The Theological Sources of the Institutes 

Sacred Scriptures that the body and blood of 
Christ essentially and corporeally are partaken of 
in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. " 2 

This is directly opposed to the teaching of 
Luther, and was the one difference which pre- 
vented a union of forces between the two 
Reformers. Luther's interpretation of the Eucha- 
rist was given the name of "consubstantiation," 
the idea being that the real body and blood of 
Christ were present with the bread and wine. 

Calvin's view of the Supper has been called a 
compromise between that of Luther and that of 
Zwingli. It does not seem such to* the author. 
Rather it is an adaptation of Luther's. Calvin 
is not satisfied to think that the actual physical 
body and blood of Jesus are partaken of by the 
communicant. He insists that there is a par- 
taking, but it is a spiritual sustenance that is 
afforded the communicant in the Supper. This 
is practically Luther's theory of consubstantiation 
with the substitution of the term "spiritual" for 
the term "corporeal." From the facts noted, 
then, it would seem that, as between Luther and 
Zwingli, Calvin sympathized more nearly with 
Luther and showed much more resemblance to 
him in the form of his religious thought. 

It remains to speak of Calvin's relation to 
Bucer, the Strasburg Reformer. Lang asserts in 
his "Evangelien Martin Butzer" that the body of 
the Calvinistic theology was derived from Bucer. 
2 Ten Articles of Berne. No. iv. 

[59] 



The Essential Calvinism 

If comparison were made between Calvin and 
Bucer alone it would be easy to come to this con- 
clusion. But when we consider the wealth of 
theological material which Calvin had at his 
command and was plainly familiar with, — the 
Scriptures, on which he wrote extensive and 
scholarly commentaries, Augustine and other 
Church Fathers, Erasmus, Lefevre, Luther, Me- 
lancthon and Zwingli, creeds and decrees of 
councils, it is simply impossible to think that Cal- 
vin simply absorbed his materials from Bucer. 

Even when the first edition of the Institutes 
was published, it was immediately accepted as 
greatly superior to all previous statements of Prot- 
estantism. The Romanists styled it the "Koran 
of the Heretics," Now Calvin had not, so far as 
the evidence goes, been with Bucer enough pre- 
vious to the publication of this book to be greatly 
influenced by him. Indeed, it would appear that 
the Institutes were well under way before Calvin 
ever saw Bucer. Further, we may remark that 
there is a strong suggestion of Luther in the 
line of thought followed, and the formal plan of 
the book, — the Commandments, the Apostles' 
Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Sacraments — 
indicates that Calvin had before him Luther's 
smaller catechism which follows the same form. 
It is fair to say, however, that this arrangement 
might have been suggested by some other writer, 
as Erasmus, who uses the same subjects in his 
"Enchiridion." But the arrangement taken to- 

[ 60 ] 



The Theological Sources of the Institutes 

gether with the progress of the thought and the 
tone of the doctrinal statements justify at least 
the suggestion expressed above. 

Lang states more particularly that he has dis- 
covered Bucerian elements in the edition of 1 539. 
This may be granted. During Calvin's exile 
from Geneva he spent most of his time with 
Bucer at Strasburg. While there he revised 
the Institutes, Naturally he would be influenced 
somewhat in his doctrinal statements by his older 
colleague. For example there appears in the 
edition of 1539 a treatment of the relation be- 
tween the Old and New Testaments, This was 
a subject that Bucer had written upon. Also a 
definition of faith similar to Bucer' s appears first 
in this edition. Again, there is expressed the 
idea of the continual wrestling of the flesh and 
the spirit, and once more, an emphasis upon the 
thought of God working on the heart; both of 
which ideas were favorite themes with Bucer. A 
diligent search might reveal other points of like- 
ness. But this is very far from saying that Cal- 
vin owes his system of theology to' Bucer. After 
all, the evidence points the other way. The ab- 
sence of these distinctly Bucerian elements from 
the first edition of the Institutes and their pres- 
ence in the edition of 1539 is unequivocal evi- 
dence against Lang's theory; for the framework 
of Calvin's theology is to be found in the first edi- 
tion, later publications were simply enlargements 
of this. A likeness on the subject of predestina- 

[61] 



The Essential Calvinism 

tion is easily explained by the fact of a common 
reference to Augustine. 

We will do well also to note some differences 
between Bucer and Calvin. Bucer s idea of the 
work of Christ presents some variety. With him 
Christ is the declarer and fulfiller of God's plan 
of salvation, and is the exalted rather than the 
crucified Saviour; his spiritual work is since 
rather than before the Resurrection. He lays 
also an unusual emphasis on the doctrine of the 
Holy Spirit. Lang calls his theology for this 
reason a theology of the Holy Spirit. Bucer 
declares that the Holy Spirit leads to knowledge, 
works regeneration, and guides the development 
of the new life ; the whole spiritual activity of the 
soul is thus referred to the workings of the Spirit. 
In his mind depravity took a more positive form 
than with Calvin. It was not so much a moral 
inability as an antagonism between man and God 
which could only be removed by divine interven- 
tion. 

Then, too. Bucer shows a more decided leaning 
toward Zwingli than does Calvin. His presen- 
tation of the divine sovereignty resembles 
Zwingli's, while his effort to combine Luther's 
doctrine of the Lord's Supper with the com- 
memoration idea of Zwingli reveals a sympathy 
for the latter that is quite unmistakable. 

We may now summarize our conclusions as 
follows : 

(i) The authorities named by Calvin in the 
[62] 



The Theological Sources of the Institutes 

Institutes, the Scriptures, Augustine and other 
Church Fathers, creeds and decrees of councils, 
are the prime sources of his theology. 

(2) In addition to this Calvin draws from his 
fellow Reformers such material as he needs to 
fill out his system of thought. Erasmus was 
the hero of his youth, and to the impulse of 
humanism Calvin owes the high literary quality 
of his writings and his first interest in the study 
of the Scriptures. Luther was, by Calvin's own 
confession, the great hem of the Reformation, 
and he follows him along the line of the 
Augustinian evangelism and the theory of justi- 
fication by faith, also in the advocacy of specific 
reforms. 

But for all this, Calvinism is quite distinct 
from Lutheranism and was looked upon by 
Lutherans of a later date with suspicion and 
even hatred, and they showed great hostility at 
the incoming of Calvinism into Germany. What- 
ever debt, then, Calvin owed to Luther it is plain 
that he did not follow him slavishly. It would 
be more correct to say that Calvin took up the 
work at the point to which Luther had brought it 
and continued it, being among the Reformers of 
the second generation what Luther had been 
among those of the first. Taking the doctrines 
of the Reformation as he found them, he first 
proceeded to formulate them; then he added 
some important elements of his own and built 
all into a compact structure; then he applied the 

[63] 



The Bssential Calvinism 



principles so arranged and stated to the actual 
problems of the time. The fact that he so 
treated this theological material as to gain the 
attention of all Europe, and acquire for himself 
among Protestants the title of "The Theologian" 
is certain evidence of theological ability. 

Moreover, we shall not find the real Calvinism 
until we subtract those elements which we know 
to be Augustinian or Lutheran in their origin 
from Calvin's great body of teaching and work. 
What is left after this subtraction, — Calvin's 
owm peculiar contribution to religious life, — will 
then appear distinctly. But first we shall need 
to review the life and character of the man him- 
self. This will be the task of the following 
chapter. 



[6 4 ] 



CHAPTER IV 
THE PERSONAL EQUATION 



CHAPTER IV 



THE PERSONAL, EQUATION 

In order to judge of the work of any man it is 
necessary to know the make-up of the man, his 
natural capacities, his environment and opportu- 
nities. A sketch of these factors in the life of 
Calvin is especially in order. 

I 

A description of the influences and forces that 
affected the character and destiny of Calvin be- 
fore he entered upon his career as a reformer is 
the first thing that requires space. 

The date of Calvin's conversion is under dis- 
pute, but it is accurate enough for our purpose 
to know that it took place towards the close of 
his university course, a time when the Reforma- 
tion was in active progress in Germany and Switz- 
erland. It is in the ten years previous to this 
event that we may look for the formative in- 
fluence and events of his life. 

His birth in 1509 was so placed that the news 
of the Reform agitation came to his knowledge at 
the beginning of his education, while as yet he 
was not expected to form definite conclusions 
upon such matters. We have no* reason to think 
that, during the first of his university life, he 

[67] 



The Essential Calvinism 

showed any sympathy for the Reformed doctrines 
as proclaimed by Luther : but they could not have 
escaped the attention of so observant and thought- 
ful a man as Calvin,, even in his youth. The 
situation of Xoyon, his native town, on the 
northern border of France would at least ensure 
this. We may note the fact also, that all over 
western Europe this was a time of doubt and 
questioning, of revolt against enslaving tradition 
and of urgent demands for reform. This fact 
must have been known and appreciated by the 
voamof student. 

Gerard Calvin, father of John, was a man con- 
siderably above the ordinary, though not of noble 
birth. His business abilities were such that they 
were in demand in the sen-ice of the Church. His 
interest in his son, who early showed remarkable 
powers of mind, was one of the important ele- 
ments in the early life of the Reformer. Taking 
advantage of his social position, he obtained for 
his son the very best educational advantages. The 
plan was at first that he should enter the service 
of the Church. This secured to him a theological 
training. But in the midst of his university 
course it was decided that he should become a 
lawyer. So he received also a legal training. 
From his own desire he entered into 
the study of the humanities. He became a 
humanist, a follower of Erasmus, Theology, 
law. humanism: of these three wisdoms Calvin 
absorbed much, of these he was to be a teacher, 
[68] 



The Personal Equation 

out of them he was to build a magnificent career. 

One more thing of great value came to him in 
his later student life, an enthusiasm for the study 
of the Bible. While at the University of Bourges 
he made a thorough study of the New Testament 
Greek under the renowned scholar, Melchior 
Wolmar. This, too, was to be an essential part of 
his equipment as a Reformer. 

There were three universities among which 
Calvin divided his time, Paris, Orleans, Bourges. 
Each one of these possessed teachers of excep- 
tional worth and great learning, the effect of 
whose instruction on the young scholar it is not 
difficult to trace. Through this elaborate in- 
struction, through faithful study, through con- 
tact with the better class of the young men of 
France, he came to possess a well-rounded culture 
which places him with the best scholars of 
Europe. 

It would seem, then, that it was by no accident 
that Calvin thus early in life received so great a 
variety of instruction, gained so< broad a culture 
and so wide an experience of men. If we take 
all this into consideration, it may not seem so 
strange that, when he came before the public with 
his first theological work, there was presented 
therein a complete exposition of Biblical Chris- 
tianity. Granted his mental strength, the prep- 
aration for such an achievement had been 
adequate. Likewise his later success as a Re- 
former we find to have been grounded in these 

[6 9 ] 



The Essential Calvinism 

years of study, when with no realization of his 
future career, he nevertheless prepared himself 
for it by faithful work in those branches of study 
which he found it his duty to pursue. 

II 

Calvin has been described in all degrees of 
being from that of a despotic sensualist to that of 
a demigod. He has suffered from slander; he 
has suffered from praise. Friend and foe alike 
have made him out to be what he was not. His 
character is still a matter of controversy, but it 
is clearly just to say of him that like other men 
he was faulty, but also that he was freer than 
most men from grossness of life. 

His most prominent characteristic was intel- 
lectuality. There is ample proof of this. If all 
we knew of him were the books he has written, 
the very immensity of the mental work required 
to produce them would assure us of this. The 
critical and constructive powers revealed in them 
evidence as well the high quality of his thinking. 
From the w r ords of his contemporaries we learn 
also that his mental labors were intense and 
protracted, and were often carried on at 
the expense of his health. He was intel- 
lectual to a fault. 

Another prominent trait was practicality. His 
words and deeds were always for a definite pur- 
pose. His most rhetorical sentences have an 
evident point. His actions are expressions of 

[70] 



The Personal Equation 

thought and aim. He showed an unusual capac- 
ity for meeting all the needs of administration, 
both in ecclesiastical and civil affairs, and also in 
the guidance of the larger reformation in the 
neighboring countries. His advice was often 
sought, not only by the government of Geneva, 
but also by the officials of other nations and 
by other leaders in political and religious life. 
It was sought, not because he had attained 
to prominence as a Reformer, but because he 
was able to present something of practical 
worth. 

He was practical to the exclusion of the senti- 
mental, the esthetic. Few words does he offer 
expressive of the beauties of nature or of art. 
The idyllic scenery of France, the grandeur of the 
Alps, the striking beauty of Lake Leman, the 
loveliness of flower and field and forest seem to 
pass unnoticed by this man of affairs. Granted 
it was so. It was enough that he raised the bare 
walls of the church of the Reformed. To others 
he could leave the fresco, the stained window, the 
organ loft, the arch and spire. 

Still another quality was faithfulness. This 
he showed even in his youth. While at the uni- 
versities, it is said, he often studied far into the 
night, and lay awake after he had retired think- 
ing over the lessons learned during the da5>\ The 
same quality was manifest during his later work. 
A steadfast devotion to- the cause he had chosen 
to sustain marked even the last hours of his life. 

[71] 



The Essential Calvinism 

The French people are often described as facile 
and changeable, but though Calvin was a French- 
man such words are unthinkable of him. When 
we recall that the last edition of his Institutes 
was the same in essence as the first, we are almost 
inclined to wish that he might have changed a 
little. 

Calvin was of a retiring disposition. He him- 
self laments his natural timidity. The leadership 
of the Geneva Reformation was thrust upon him 
almost against his will; he preferred the quieter 
work of teacher and writer. But once feeling 
it to be his duty, believing that it was the will 
of God that he should undertake this work, his 
natural fearfulness is overruled by his faith in 
the Master's grace. He then shows a wonderful 
gift of public leadership and often reveals a fear- 
less spirit. 

The most common criticism that has been 
made of Calvin, is that he was devoid of affection, 
cold, cruel. There is an appearance of truth in 
this charge, but the latter historians defend him 
from the harshness of it and bring forth good 
evidence in support of their statements. An ex- 
amination of Calvin's correspondence furnishes 
contradiction to the charge of unfriendliness. He 
clings to the friends of his youth, and writes to 
them in words that are expressive of the closest 
intimacy, almost fond, endearing. Likewise the 
personal affection shown him by such men as 
Viret, Farel, Beza, Melancthon, bears witness 

[72] 



The Personal Equation 

that his was no unresponsive nature. Indeed it 
would seem that this personal element of devo^- 
tion was one of the great forces by which he 
gained such an ascendancy over the lives of his 
followers. 

The question of cruelty is a more serious one. 
The death of Servetus through the agency of 
Calvin is an indelible blot on an otherwise fair 
escutcheon. We cannot justify this thing in the 
light of the gospel. In this Calvin stands con- 
demned. But it is just to say, that while he de- 
sired the execution, he believed that he was doing 
God service. We may record to his credit also 
that he was opposed to the burning at the stake. 
Nor was he alone in upholding the death penalty 
for violent heretics. All the other men of his 
generation believed with him. Even the mild 
Melancthon approved of the death of Servetus. 

We attempt to describe men by relating their 
qualities. This seems not enough. We must 
know them as complete personalities. If we are 
to understand the character of Calvin we must 
clothe these qualities with personality and unite 
them into manhood. Then our minds may pic- 
ture this striking figure of the great apostle of 
the Reformation, smiting with the hammer of 
gospel truth the rotten framework of an effete 
religion, and fashioning anew the structure of an 
independent church. 



[73] 



The Essential Calvinism 



III 

It seems almost impossible that a single man 
could have written all the books that bear Cal- 
vin's name, and maintain through them all a 
high standard of thinking and literary art. If 
the study of Calvin should by any strange 
chance became popular, as in the case of Shakes- 
peare, we might almost expect another Baconian 
theory to account for this great literary output. 
And yet this was only a part of the Reformer's 
work. 

His theological work, notably the Institutes, 
was of such a character as to win from the 
leaders of the German Reformation the title of 
"The Theologian/'' and in view of the influence 
which his system has had in the Protestant 
churches generally, the title does not seem ill- 
deserved. In method, in clearness of statement, 
in comprehensiveness, his theological work was 
superior to all others of his time. 

But the name "Theologian," even though de- 
served, fails to describe all the valuable work of 
Calvin. As a polemical writer he was most 
forceful. The letter to Sadoletus, changing as it 
did the history of Geneva, was enough of itself 
to warrant this assertion. The address to Francis 
I, found in the Institutes, is just as remark- 
able, while his tracts on Reformation subjects 
and his "Antidotes" to the decrees of the Council 
of Trent and to the articles of the Sorbonne are 
splendid specimens of polemical writing. 

[74] 



The Personal Equation 

In the sphere of Bible commentary Calvin's 
work is of the best. Spurgeon called him "The 
Prince of Commentators." If a great preacher 
of the nineteenth century had so high an estimate 
of his work, it must have been strikingly prom- 
inent in the sixteenth. 

The literary quality that appears in all of Cal- 
vin's writings, calls to mind the fact that he began 
his career as a humanist by the publication 
of a commentary on Seneca's "De Clementia." 
This side of his culture is not often realized, 
but perhaps no part of his university training 
shows more plainly in his writings than this. 
Calvin was also a teacher. In the Academy at 
Geneva he spent much time in giving instruction. 
He was a preacher, too, and nearly every Sunday, 
and sometimes on week days, he preached in one 
of the churches of the city. Still further he was 
a statesman. It was he that suggested the policy 
of the government. It was he who formulated 
the laws of the republic. It was under the in- 
fluence of his ideals that the whole administra- 
tion of public affairs was carried on. In addition 
to these home duties he had more or less super- 
vision over the churches of his communion in 
other countries. Geneva became the center of a 
great religious community with Calvin as its 
chief. So varied and many-sided was the work 
of this man. 

We may not in estimating the work done 
be satisfied with the title of "Theologian," or 

[75] 



The Essential Calvinism 



"Prince of Commentators." These with 
"Teacher/'' 'Treacher/' "Humanist" "States- 
man,'' fail of complete description. But there is 
one reality that is present in all Calvin's work. 
There is one purpose that rules it all. There is 
one thought that reconciles all the diverse ele- 
ments of a varied activity — the reformation of 
the Church of Christ. Calvin was the great 
apostle in modern times of a new order of human 
society based upon a fresh interpretation of the 
truth revealed in the Scriptures. 



[76] 



CHAPTER V 
APPLIED CALVINISM 



CHAPTER V 



APPLIED CALVINISM 

The conception of Calvin as merely a 
theologian, or indeed as chiefly a theologian, 
leads to empty results. For with such an idea 
those who attempt to follow him are led into a 
formal Calvinism, while his opponents are able 
to say with seeming justice that he merely re- 
stated doctrines already promulgated. Both fail 
to understand what the Reformer really accom- 
plished. The field of his original achievements 
is shut from their view. 

We set forth, then, the proposition that Calvin's 
originality is revealed most in realms essentially 
distinct from doctrinal theology, and that it finds 
expression therein only incidentally through his 
interest in and devotion to the Reform movement. 
What Calvin would have been without the im- 
petus of the Reformation, may be judged by the 
character of his commentary on Seneca's 
"De Clementia," and by his natural devotion to 
legal studies, in which he was most proficient, 
often occupying the professor's chair while still 
classed as a student. We find here, not the 
churchman, but the humanist ; not the theologian, 
but the jurist. Under the impulse of the motives 
here discovered there could have been no Re- 

[79] 



The 'Essential Calvinism 

former. John Calvin would have been known to 
us as the great humanist, jurist, statesman of six- 
teenth century Europe, the friend of kings and 
princes, their learned counsellor, the advocate of 
conservative political progress, the devotee of 
letters. That this was not so, that he is known 
to us as the great Genevan Reformer, is due not 
to the natural inclination of his genius, but is 
one of those striking accidents of history which 
we can explain only by attributing it to the provi- 
dence of God. 

Further, we set forth the proposition that the 
original work of Calvin was that of construction. 
The materials at hand were classified, arranged, 
and formed into a compact whole, the organized 
Reformation, a reconstruction affecting every de- 
partment of life and altering the current 
of modern history. 

The Reformation shows progressively three 
stages : ( i ) The awakening of religious thought, 
which was characteristic of the movement before 
the time of Luther; (2) a moral awakening, in 
which Luther was the prime mover, and in which 
there was a demand for active reform of abuses 
in the churches; (3) an attempt at reconstruc- 
tion, as in the latter part of the Lutheran 
Reformation, but more especially in subsequent 
developments in Geneva, France, the Netherlands 
and Great Britain. 

The work of Calvin was principally in the third 
of these stages. This was his special field of 

[80] 



Applied Calvinism 

effort, and one for which he was especially 
adapted. 

The term Calvinism has become the symbol of 
conservatism, and has historically been applied 
to the theology of the more conservative 
churches. On account of this, people fail to see 
that Calvin was by nature and work a radical. It 
might even seem preposterous to make such a 
claim, but it is nevertheless true. The people 
of Calvin's own time realized it. His friends 
praised him for the wisdom of the changes which 
he introduced, and his enemies cursed him as an 
innovator, the arch-enemy of traditional religion, 
an iconoclast. And what his enemies said was 
essentially true, but was only a part of the truth ; 
they took no account of the other side of the case, 
i.e., that the ruins of old things were cleared away 
only for the purpose of making way for a new 
and better structure. 

There has always been a tendency to identify 
the Reformation with a certain set of theological 
dogmas. No greater mistake could possibly be 
made. The Augustinian evangelism had only an 
incidental connection with the movement, through 
being the most available form of evangelism. But 
any other form of evangelism that took into ac- 
count man's dependence on divine help in order 
to be saved would have answered as well or 
better, provided it had no peculiar feature to 
arouse controversy. A man might be a good 
Catholic and hold the Augustinian theology, or 
[81] 



The Essential Calvinism 

on the other hand a Protestant might follow 
Melancthon in his trend away from strict 
Augustinianism and lose none of the spirit of the 
Reformation. 

The real Reformation after all had little to do 
with mere doctrine. It was concerned with life, 
and active faith, and spiritual and moral better- 
ment. It was a revolt against an effete order 
of society and an earnest effort toward a new and 
improved order. 

When Luther nailed his famous theses on the 
door of the Castle church at Wittenberg, he was 
concerned not with correcting doctrinal state- 
ments, but with the flagrant abuses which had 
crept into church life, and the prime effort of all 
the leaders of the Reformation was to bring about 
a better religious condition among the people. 

Calvin was in the forefront of this movement, 
realizing far better than Luther the real drift of 
the social and moral changes then taking place, 
and while he put much time and effort into doc- 
trinal statement, his main purpose was to give 
expression and direction to the new forces that 
had come to birth in the Reformation. 

We have already noted in another chapter three 
of Calvin's contributions in the field of theology — 
the conception of God as the All-active One, the 
assertion of the practical value of man's religious 
consciousness and a sensible and comprehensive 
interpretation of the Christian life. Now we 
may consider the nature of Calvin's attempt to 

[82] 



Applied Calvinism 

put in force his ideals of social and religious life. 
This effort on his part aimed at nothing less than 
the complete reconstruction of all departments of 
society, according to principles founded on the 
truth revealed in the Scriptures. His constructive 
genius shows itself along four lines and gives 
system and motive to theology, to preaching, to 
church organization and to civil government. 

I 

We choose the term "Biblicism" to describe 
Calvin's principle of theologic construction. 
Though, as we have seen, the subject matter of 
his theology is largely the result of collation, we 
are not therefore to conclude that the Institutes 
show no sign of originality. To assert this 
would be to belittle one of the great forces of the 
Reformation. Rather we may say that no one 
book of this period did so much to establish the 
work of reform as did the Institutes. Immedi- 
ately after the publication of this book, the 
author, then a young man only twenty-six years 
of age, sprang into prominence as one of the chief 
Reformers. Protestants and Romanists alike 
realized the significance of the event. Yet as we 
compare it with the teachings of the other 
Reformers we find but little that had not already 
been promulgated. In what, then, lay its 
strength ? 

Orderliness, comprehensiveness, conciseness, 
proportion made the Institutes a masterful 

[8 3 ] 



The Bssential Calvinism 

achievement. Amid the chaos of doctrinal con- 
troversy, where fundamentals are so easily ob- 
scured, the mind of Calvin comprehended the full 
reach of the progressive thought of the time, 
gave it a consistent and unified expression, and 
placed it before the world in a brief and readable 
form. 

But if this were all that we could say, the wide- 
spread influence that was exerted would still be 
imperfectly explained. Method however pure, 
system however complete, cannot show why so 
great an effect was produced by Calvinism upon 
all classes of people. There was resident in 
Calvin's theological writing a vital energy which 
wrought most astonishing results. After all, the 
system was but the evidence of something greater. 
Calvin had the capacity, almost prophetic, to per- 
ceive and give expression to fundamental prin- 
ciples in deeds as well as in words. This capacity 
is revealed in the Institutes. It is not as we ex- 
amine the book page by page, or study its method 
and system that we come to understand its great- 
ness, but only as we can see it to be as a whole 
the expression of a great thought. Luther at the 
Diet of Worms took his stand firmly on the 
authority of the Scriptures. We cannot, there- 
fore, say that this conception is original with 
Calvin, but he saw more clearly than anyone else 
the fundamental principle of Luther's position. 
Luther used the Bible negatively as a means of 
defence, a place of refuge. In addition to this, 

[8 4 3 



Applied Calvinism 

Calvin makes it a source of construction, a base 
of supplies, an invading force. It is this that ex- 
plains the penetrating power of Calvin's teaching. 
His books and in particular the Institutes found 
their way all over Europe. They were almost 
literally an invading army. Everywhere they 
had to be treated with, they could not be ignored. 
They must be forcibly excluded or surrendered to 
as a conquering power. Even the peculiarly 
individual character of the Lutheran Reformation 
was not forceful enough to prevent an avowed 
devotion to Calvin in some parts of Germany. 

The use of the Bible as final authority 
in religion was a common characteristic of the 
Reformers of all classes; the usages of the 
churches must not conflict with the Scriptures ; 
abuses must be corrected according to their teach- 
ing. Calvin's use of the Bible goes further. For 
him it contains the foundation principles of human 
society, the law and will of God for men. With 
his powerful mind he tries to grasp these prin- 
ciples, to bring them to expression, and to apply 
them to the solution of moral and social problems 
as they confronted him in Geneva and western 
Europe. And with what success history tells. His 
power to use the Bible in this way gave him un- 
told influence in modern history. 

Before this time there had been many things 
that claimed authority along with the Bible. The 
writings of Church Fathers, the ancient creeds, 
the decrees of councils, the bulls of the popes, the 

[85] 



The Essential Calvinism 

philosophy of Aristotle, the scholastic tradition, 
the priesthood, all came in to limit the sphere of 
the Bible. All these things Calvin leaves to one 
side, not as one who is ignorant, or indifferent, 
but as one who through the inclusiveness of his 
view is able to perceive the proper perspective, 
and place the Scriptures in the central ground of 
religious authority. The Bible is not merely the 
standard, it is the source of truth. 

The Institutes were the product of a scholar; 
they were read chiefly by scholars. In themselves 
they did not come before the common people. Yet 
not only scholars but merchants, artisans, ordi- 
nary workmen became Calvinists. Among these, 
system of thought was not a thing of great im- 
portance. It did not reach them nor concern 
them. However, the same principle that 
actuated the writer of the Institutes actuated 
them also. The Bible became for them the sum 
total of all good thoughts, of all true and comfort- 
ing doctrine; it was the revealed will of God. 
They did not read the Institutes, but in the same 
spirit they read the Bible, and in language less 
pure, perhaps, but none the less vigorous, they 
set forth the plain teaching of the gospel. This 
devotion to the Bible and the exposition of its 
doctrine directly is specially characteristic of 
Calvinists. The spirit of Biblicism reigns in 
them. A Calvinist without his Bible is unthink- 
able. 

The service of the German Reformers in giving 
[86] 



Applied Calvinism 

the Bible to the common people, and in render- 
ing the worship of God in the vernacular, was 
of inestimable value. Likewise the work of 
Calvin in making the Bible in the hands of the 
people a constructive social and religious force, 
was a supplemental work of no> less value. The 
modern Protestant is often displeased at the way 
in which the leader of the German Reformation 
clung to many of the features of the Roman 
Church, giving up very reluctantly, article by 
article, the ways of medievalism. Calvin's prin- 
ciple, of building all from the Word of God, con- 
trasts his Reformatory work very sharply with 
that of Luther, and gives a distinct character to 
the nations and churches that have most yielded 
to his influence. 

II 

Another feature of the vital Calvinism of the 
Reformation we may describe by the term 
"Evangelism." The word should not be limited 
to the sense so often given it in these later times, 
when attempts are made to force a revival of 
religious interest. It has a wider significance. 
On its theoretic side it is that view of Christian 
experience in which man is lost in himself 
through sin, and saved by the grace of God alone. 
This is characteristic of Augustinianism as op- 
posed to Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism. In 
this form it came to Calvin from the ancient the- 
ologian. He made the most possible of it. It 

[87] 



The Essential Calvinism 



is in his theology in a very strict form. It is an 
integral part of his system. Further, evangelism 
is not merely a soteriological theory, it is also the 
principle applied, it is the proclamation of the 
message and as well its effect on the hearer, 
especially if such hearing lead to salvation. Was 
there this full evangelism in the life of Calvinism? 
Eminently so. This does not appear in the 
common thought upon the subject though it is not 
unnoticed by the historian. This is easily ac- 
counted for. The external features of Calvinism 
have been so accentuated in sermon and creed, 
that the experimental side of the movement 
passes easily unseen. Yet to the careful his- 
torian of this period, this evangelistic activity 
appears as a most essential characteristic of 
the Reformation conducted under Genevan 
auspices. 

Calvin himself was a most devotional man, 
fully consecrated to the service of Christ and in- 
tensely interested in Christ's redeeming of others. 
This spirit was caught by his followers, whether 
they had listened to him in person, or had read 
his works, or had been influenced indirectly by 
others. Calvin had a son, an only child who died 
in infancy. Writing of his sorrow to an old 
friend, he expresses himself as being comforted 
by the thought of his many children in the faith 
who looked to him as their spiritual father. This 
was no poetic fancy but a most vigorous reality. 
There were very many even in distant places who 
[88] 



Applied Calvinism 

revered Calvin and looked to him for spiritual 
guidance. Thousands of men inspirited by him set 
forth with their gospel message, scattering every- 
where tracts from his pen, copies of the Bible, 
catechisms, sermons; braving danger and death 
that they might make known the tidings of the 
cross. This devotion was the expression of faith 
in a personal Redeemer. They were His chosen 
ones ; they sought to do> His will and were ready 
to follow in the path He trod. 

When one recalls the Calvinistic sermon of 
tradition, scholastic in form, dogmatic, often ab- 
struse, it is difficult to connect it with the straight- 
forward, fiery preaching of the French and Dutch 
evangelists of Calvinistic impulse. The materials 
for these discourses did not consist in large 
measure of accusations against the papacy. They 
were chiefly expository sermons. The people 
thirsted for the Bible and for its plain interpreta- 
tion, and made extraordinary efforts to attend the 
services of the Protestant preachers, and, many as 
these were, there were not enough to supply the 
demand. When, therefore, an evangelist came 
into a neighborhood, people from far and near 
flocked to hear him. Often several thousands 
were gathered together. In some little hall, a 
private house, or, most characteristically, in some 
field outside the limits of the town, the meeting 
took place. After the singing of a psalm, the 
preacher mounted a platform and read from the 
Scriptures. Then followed the sermon. For 

[8 9 ] 



The Essential Calvinism 

hours often the exposition continued, and even 
then the people went away still hungering for the 
Word. Such was the evangelism inspired by the 
leader of the Genevan Reformation. It was, and 
is, a thing peculiar to Calvinistic and related 
churches. In its objective realization it was a 
part of Calvin's work. The thought is perhaps 
another's ; the vitalizing of the thought, the incar- 
nating of the truth, the organization of spiritual 
forces belongs to the original work of John 
Calvin. 

Besides this immediate message of evangelism, 
it was given another form in the work of the 
Genevan schools. These were a supplement to 
the church. Calvin had been a humanist. His 
devotion to Christ and the Reformation moved 
him to give the benefits of knowledge to others. 
Much of his time and strength was given to the 
founding and maintaining a system of schools for 
the republic. The Academy, established by his 
educational policy, became famous in teachers and 
pupils. Calvin himself was one of the instructors. 
Others who had received an education in the great 
French universities were invited to share in the 
work. It became the great educational center of 
Protestantism. Here it was that the beginnings 
of Scotch and English Calvinism were made. 
Many of those exiled under Queen Mary found 
a refuge at Geneva, and took advantage of their 
sojourn there to learn from Calvin the principles 
of his teaching and reform. In better days they 

[90] 



Applied Calvinism 

returned to their native land to apply the lessons 
learned here. 

Of as great importance were the common 
schools of Geneva. They were most effective in 
raising the standard of life and morals among the 
once licentious and uncultured Genevese. Note- 
worthy is the idea that lay back of this policy. 
The child should be prepared to read the Bible for 
himself, to read also other books of a helpful kind, 
and be fitted for good service as a citizen. This 
latter purpose was prominent in the thought of the 
Reformer. He often betrays in his writings a dis- 
trust of popular sovereignty. Considering the 
stormy scenes that were enacted in the city of his 
adoption, which once meant exile and at other 
times threatened it, or even something worse, this 
fact is not surprising. We must admit that 
nothing could be stable in public life when an 
uneducated people possesses the sovereignty. 
Wisely, then, was the foundation laid for the fu- 
ture greatness of Geneva, when its educational 
laws required the children of the city to* be edu- 
cated for citizenship and for the service of Christ. 

It was, then, an evangelistic purpose that gave 
rise to this educational movement. It was the 
same purpose that gave rise to the early New 
England schools and which still leads on to the 
establishment of openly Christian academies and 
colleges. Education to the Calvinist is of little 
worth if it is given a selfish aim. A bread-and- 
butter education is not enough. He would have 

[91] 



The Essential Calvinism 



the soil trained to know its God and to learn de- 
votional living. 

Ill 

Biblicism and Evangelism might be called the 
acquired characteristics of Calvinism. The pos- 
sibility of them lay in the nature of the man who 
so exemplified them. But it is questionable if 
they would have reached any great degree of de- 
velopment except for the circumstance of the 
Reformation. Calvin was naturally a jurist. It 
was in the line of administration and legal con- 
struction that his success was most brilliant. In 
many things he depended on other Reformers or 
worked out their ideas and suggestions. But in 
the matter of the organization of the churches he 
solved a problem that had been a complete puzzle 
to Luther and Zwingli. Luther put the seal on 
the doctrine of Scripture authority and reasserted 
the evangelical teaching of Augustine, but did not 
have the talent to organize his church forces. This 
Calvin did. He was peculiarly fitted to do it. 

Set at the head of the Genevan churches, it was 
his work to rebuild what had been destroyed, to 
construct upon a different plan and on a different 
foundation. Xo problem could have been more 
difficult. The priestly hierarchy had ruled so long 
that no other discipline had been thought of 
for upwards of a thousand years. There seemed 
no precedent to go by unless it were the unfortu- 
nate one, as it proved, of entire dependence on the 

[92] 



Applied Calvinism 

civil power. The task was to originate a form 
of church government responsible to reason, ap- 
pealing to men also on the side of sentiment 
and at the same time having the strength to 
maintain itself against the attacks of the papacy, 
and ensure its perpetuity as an identical organiza- 
tion. All these requirements were met in the re- 
construction of the churches of Geneva. On the 
basis of reason they were autonomous, self- 
governing and self-perpetuating. Geneva had 
been for a long time a republic. It was reason- 
able and fitting that its churches should be 
governed in a similar way. The changing of 
sentiment was far more difficult oi accomplish- 
ment. When a people for centuries have been 
attached to the same religious forms, methods of 
expression and customs of worship, it is a hard 
thing to change their practises. The mind 
may be convinced, but the heart longs for the old 
ways. Yet in this appeal to sentiment Calvin suc- 
ceeded. For the old ideas and customs he in- 
troduced new ones; the old forms he replaced 
with others more fitting. 

His work in this respect bears evidence of 
antagonism to Rome. It could hardly have been 
otherwise. But it illustrates none the less the 
keen and discriminating mind of the Reformer. 
The Romanist grounded his authority in the 
Church. Its doctrine was the truth, its message 
the gospel. Against this conception was placed 
the Bible as the inspired source of authority to 

[93] 



The Essential Calvinism 

which Church and council must conform. Against 
the doctrine of the apostolic priesthood was set 
the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. 
Against the claim of catholicity in the Roman 
Church was brought forward the doctrine of the 
invisible Catholic Church of which the visible 
churches are the expression. Instead of a visible 
ruler of the Church, as the bishop of Rome, 
Christ is made the real though invisible head. The 
visible Church is regarded as the true expression 
of the invisible when it sustains public worship, 
administers the sacraments, furnishes the preach- 
ing of the pure Word of God and maintains 
spiritual discipline. 

This presentation of the Church was so fitted to 
the needs of the time as to completely drive out 
the old Church ideas in Reformed communities. 
The reverence for the Roman priesthood disap- 
peared and with it all the practises that were con- 
nected with it. ' 

Calvin looks to the New Testament for sug- 
gestions as to the government of the Church, and 
as far as possible he carries out the practises and 
methods applied in apostolic times. But for all 
this, it must be said that the ecclesiastical govern- 
ment and discipline of the churches of Geneva 
bears plainly the stamp of his peculiar genius. 
There is much therein that comes of his knowl- 
edge of law and the principles of administration. 
The scheme is more elaborate than a simple study 
of the Bible would warrant. The needs of this 

[94] 



Applied Calvinism 

particular community are considered, and some 
things have only a local application. 

The form of church government at Geneva was 
in most respects like that of the Presbyterian 
churches of the present day. The officers were 
the pastors, teachers, lay elders and deacons. 
These were connected with particular churches. 
Unity was effected by the institution of two- re- 
presentative bodies, the Venerable Company, 
clerical in its make-up, and the Consistory, a 
mixed body of clergymen and laymen. It was 
Calvin's purpose to* add to< these still another as- 
sembly, the synod, a superior administrative body, 
in order that the organization of the churches 
might form a complete system. In this he was 
prevented by the action of the civil authorities. 

The ecclesiastical discipline at Geneva was 
strict and elaborate, and followed out Biblical 
suggestions. It proved to be a very important 
element in Calvinism. There were three steps in 
the treatment of refractory members, based on the 
words of Jesus in Matthew 18: 15-17 — private 
admonition, admonition before witnesses, and ex- 
clusion from the Lord's table. Calvin sought to 
have all this included in the jurisdiction of the 
Church. But in the matter of excommunication 
the civil authorities insisted on having a veto 
power. Nevertheless this system of discipline 
became famous and passed itself on into history 
as a vital force. 

So the great thing was done. There was avoided 

[95] 



The Essential Calvinism 



on the one side the enervating subjection to the 
civil power which characterized the Lutheran 
churches, and on the other side the fatal error of 
claiming authority in civil jurisdiction. Calvin's 
idea was that of an independent church and an 
independent state government, but both admin- 
istered in sympathy and supplementing* each 
other. The historic importance of this achieve- 
ment is inestimable. There was built up a 
veritable church-republic on final principles. The 
church membership was the foundation of the 
structure, then came the officers of the church, 
then the representative assemblies. It was one 
of the strongest forms of government ever de- 
vised, and proved itself so in more than one 
country. There was no need of connection 
with the state, as was the case at Geneva. 
A body of Christian believers could make 
a beginning anywhere, without the help, or 
even without reference to, any outside authority 
and build up church, presbytery, synod, general 
assembly into a strong and permanent organiza- 
tion. This was done more than once and in 
each case the new body was of the strongest and 
formed an essential part of the nation's activities. 

The churches of Geneva could not strictly be 
termed free churches. They were too much 
under the supervision of the state authorities. 
This was not Calvin's doing, it was in spite of 
his wishes and plans. But the impetus toward 
freedom in church affairs was so great even 

[96] 



Applied Calvinism 

under these conditions, the principle of autonomy 
was so plainly asserted, that we can justly say 
that Calvin was the father of the free church. 

IV 

The Reformed churches, organized as they 
were in the relation of a republic, contained in 
themselves the suggestion of free government in 
civil affairs, and would inevitably lead up to that 
question sooner or later. But Calvin did not 
leave the suggestion to be worked out by others. 
He himself in his written works and in actual life 
has expressed his ideas of government. This fea- 
ture of Calvinism stands out very prominently. 
Calvin was above all a statesman, a politician if 
you will. It does not avail to say that he never 
held any civil office or took any formal part in the 
administration of the government. He was the 
recognized leader of the theocratic party at 
Geneva. He had a wonderful power over his 
constituency. The government of the city was 
remodeled and administered in accordance with 
his ideas. The code of laws in use was almost 
directly from his pen. His advice was asked in 
all important affairs of state and was usually fol- 
lowed. It is hardly too much to say that no 
man ever impressed his personality upon the life 
of a people more than did Calvin upon that of the 
Genevese. As to office, he could be called at 
most only head pastor, but in effect he was the 
ruler, by the force of his personality and by the 

[97] 



The Essential Calvinism 

fulness of his political wisdom, both in Church 
and State. No king ever realized his plans more 
completely, or more thoroughly attained his pur- 
pose. And yet he never took weapon into his 
hand nor commanded soldiery; never made show 
of his power nor coerced his parliament. What- 
ever changes were made had to be passed by vote 
of the general assembly of the people. His was 
purely a moral supremacy. 

In the second volume of the Institutes is a 
chapter on civil government in which Calvin gives 
his political theory. It is of the class that is 
termed theocratic government administered from 
the religious point of view. This scheme, like 
that of his system of church government, looks 
to the Bible for its authority, and like it also is a 
pure product of his genius. 

All government is of God. The ruler is the 
agent of God appointed to hold power over the 
community or nation. He is responsible to God. 
who will deal with him as with a steward. The 
people are to obey the ruler implicitly, for his 
authority is of God. But obedience to God is 
supreme, so the suggestion is made that in case 
of very oppressive tyranny, the overthrow of the 
existing government is right, provided God has 
chosen some one as his agent for the purpose. 

The functions of the government are given as 
the establishment of true worship, the upholding 
of sound doctrine, the maintenance of public 
order, defence of the community, involving the 
right of war, and taxation. 

[98] 



Applied Calvinism 

Law finds its basis in the moral law of God as 
seen in the Bible and in the life of the nations. 
Its purpose is governmental. It expresses the 
will of God for the community and the individual. 
No distinction is made in the execution of the 
punishment between civil and religious offences. 
Both are against God and both are to be punished 
by the magistrate, who is the agent of God. 

In the Bible Calvin finds no authoritative pref- 
erence as to the form of government — democra- 
tic, aristocratic or monarchic. But the trend of 
his thought and the impulse of his work is toward 
free government. 

This was no idle theory. The principles here 
described were put into- actual practise in the city 
of Geneva, Reform there was not confined to 
the elevating of the morals of the people or the 
establishment of a New Testament church. It 
included also- in reconstruction of the political 
order not less complete and lasting than that in 
the religious life. 

Geneva had been a republic for a long time 
when Calvin came there, But it was in a rather 
loose form. Under Calvin some changes were 
made in form, but the greatest changes were in 
method of administration. The theocratic idea 
seeks an actual realization. The subjects of the 
State are regarded as the subjects of God and 
their acts are passed upon from that point of view. 

The laws formulated by Calvin were a complete 
code for the administration of public affairs down 

[99] 



The Essential Calvinism 

to the minutest detail. Regulations were made as 
to behavior, dress, church attendance, education, 
amusements and luxuries, besides matters that 
ordinarily enter into enactments of the kind. 
These laws were maintained in force for many 
years until the character of the Genevese was com- 
pletely altered. 

In other lands than Switzerland Calvinism 
came to be a transforming power in a political 
way through the teaching of Calvin, through 
the example of Geneva, and indirectly through 
the churches. 

The history of the Netherlands in the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries is chiefly the history of 
Calvinism as the dominant force in the national 
life, to which it rendered service of the highest 
value. 

The first Reform movements in the Netherlands 
were independent of, and previous to, the incep- 
tion of Calvinism. Before Luther's time there 
were signs which presaged the coming of a relig- 
ious change, and when he came to- the front his 
doctrines found wide acceptance. All this was to 
be absorbed in the more vigorous Calvinism. 
There were several causes for this. Lutheranism 
became the religion of the wealthier classes in the 
Netherlands and was at first only a protest within 
the Roman Church, while Calvinism was a 
popular movement and distinct in every way from 
Romanism. Then, too, the zeal and energy of the 
Huguenot preachers contributed a characteristic 
[ ioo ] 



Applied Calvinism 

enthusiasm to the Reform that was highly effec- 
tive. The superior organization of the Calvinistic 
body, also, was a most powerful instrument in 
the maintenance of Reformed teaching. 

In the struggle with Spain all classes of Protes- 
tants united, but the leadership and moral force 
lay with the Calvinists. Their solidarity gave 
form to an otherwise scattered movement. As to 
the thinking that lay back of this series of events, 
a very suggestive quotation is made by Hausser 
from the Frisian records of this period: "Every 
one knows that the ruler is ordained of God to 
protect his subjects as the shepherd protects his 
flock. If, therefore, the ruler do> not do his duty, 
if he oppress his subjects, destroy their ancient 
liberties and treat them like slaves, he is no longer 
to be considered as a ruler but as a tyrant. As 
such the country may justly and reasonably and 
honorably depose him and elect another in his 
place." In more than one thing this shows the 
influence of Calvin's teaching. 

In the relation of Church and State in the 
Netherlands we find that the Genevan model was 
closely followed. Each maintained a separate 
government and code of laws; yet they were 
allied. The magistrates were to protect the 
churches in their work, and the preachers were 
by their teaching and moral influence to help the 
magistrate in the maintenance of law and order. 

Not only in the crucial time of the Spanish war, 
but also in the succeeding time of peace, Calvinism 
[ioi] 



The Essential Calvinism 

did a great service in the building up of the 
Dutch Republic. This is easily lost sight of 
in the theological controversy between the Cal- 
vinists and Arminians, in which the latter are 
generally regarded as the progressive party. 
However this may be, from a political point of 
view we must draw different conclusions. Here 
Calvinists were the progressive, the Arminians 
the reactionary party. The greatest danger to 
the national life of the Dutch people came from 
within. The country was divided into petty 
states, each one of which was so assertive of its 
own rights as to endanger the general welfare. 
Nothing as yet, not even the long war with Spain, 
had welded them into a nation. In the Arminian 
dispute, the conflicting forces of local and central 
government came into* collision in political, as well 
as in religious questions. The political parties 
joined in the controversy according to their 
predilection. There came thus to be a fourfold 
division in Netherlands society; the Calvinists 
favoring a centralized ecclesiastical authority 
vested in a national synod ; the Remonstrants who 
contested the right of the synod to enforce its de- 
crees on the minorities; the Orangeists who 
favored a centralized national government with 
the heir of the house of Orange at its head ; and 
the advocates of extreme local government led by 
John of Barneveld, Grand Pensionary of Hol- 
land. The Calvinists threw in their lot with the 
Orange party and the victory was won for 
[ 1 02 ] 



Applied Calvinism 

centralization. The struggle was renewed under 
Barneveld's successor, John de Witt, but he was 
not able to- stem the tide. To the centralizing 
force of Calvinism is due largely the fact that the 
Netherlands ceased to be a mere collection of 
petty states and developed into a nation. 

Calvinism in Scotland more than in the Nether- 
lands was the creating of a nation. It might 
almost be said that before the Reformation there 
was no Scottish nation. It was only an associa- 
tion of fiefs and baronies, and the king himself 
was only chief baron, and possessed but little 
power. Out of this chaos of political uncertain- 
ties Calvinism wrought a nation, firm in its 
texture, enduring in its qualities. 

The apostle of the Reformation in Scotland, 
John Knox, was a typical Calvinist and an ex- 
ample of how the Genevan Reformer inspired 
those who heard him or studied under him. On 
his return to Scotland he seemed to transfuse the 
Genevan Reformation into the life of the people. 
It was almost as if Calvin himself had come to 
repeat the work done on the Continent. Under 
the leadership of Knox, the Lords of the congre- 
gation were organized to protect the preaching of 
the gospel. But, as was true in the Netherlands, 
the real religious transformation was among the 
common people. A new spirit was infused into 
them. They became a unit in thought and aim 
and organization. The churches, the presby- 
teries, the synods, the general assembly as they 
[ 103 ] 



The Essential Calvinism 

were successively formed, built them up into a 
theocratic republic, stable, enduring. 

A consistent book of discipline gave to the 
churches a constitution, elaborate and thorough, 
provided with method for administration, and 
method for exercising spiritual jurisdiction over 
its membership. Thus developed one of the 
strongest organizations ever known. Against it 
the Stuarts used all their power in vain, and in- 
directly at least they owe to it their downfall. 

It is somewhat difficult to point out the direct 
political effect of Calvinism in Scotland, for the 
reason that its government became merged with 
that of England. But we may safely name the 
following: the nationalization of the Scottish 
people, the overthrow of feudalism, a more dem- 
ocratic quality in the parliament, thorough local 
administration of justice and the establishment of 
a fine system of free schools and universities 
through the country. 

Stubbs, in his "Constitutional History of Eng- 
land," makes the statement that there are two 
great sources of English constitutional law, the 
ancient liberties and customs of the Angles and 
Saxons finding their completeness in local govern- 
ment, and the administrative system of the Nor- 
man conquerors superimposed upon and giving 
system to- the local governments. The forces of 
English history so operated as to preserve both 
elements of constitution, and to fuse them so 
completely that the people were unconscious of 
[ 104] 



Applied Calvinism 

the dual origin of their laws and liberties. At the 
time of the advent of Calvinism in England it 
found there a well established monarchy 
and a reformation, of a political kind at least, 
already accomplished. In a large measure the 
work which Calvinism did in Scotland and the 
Netherlands in a political way was here already 
accomplished. 

Puritanism, the English form of Calvinism, 
made its appearance as a distinct type in the reign 
of Queen Elizabeth. The queen relied much 
upon the Puritans for support for they were in- 
tensely patriotic, but she distrusted them and re- 
pressed their earnest efforts for a complete reform. 
Calvinism as a whole never obtained the support 
of the government in England. 

Besides this the endeavors of the Puritans were 
somewhat negatived by a division in the matter of 
church government. One party led by Thomas 
Cartwright held to a jure divino Presbyterianism. 
Another party, the Independents, advocated a 
separation of Church and State. So> Calvinism 
never became in England the compact organiza- 
tion that it did in other countries. The contest 
between the Puritans and Charles I is illustrative 
of this fact. There were three parties in the 
struggle — the king*, the Parliament, which repre- 
sented Presbyterian uniformity, and the army, 
which was composed mainly of Independents. 
None of the parties represented ever completely 
attained its end. Presbyterianism never met with 

[105] 



The Essential Calvinism 

great success in England. It was the Calvinism 
of Cromwell and the army which gained the im- 
mediate victory, and which, later on, was to carry 
out a considerable part of its program. 

Cromwell was a Calvinist in the political sense. 
He held to Calvin's idea of statecraft and tried to 
realize in England a political theocracy. That he 
failed is due not to his lack of genius, nor to in- 
feriority in administration, but rather to the fact 
that his constituency was mainly of soldiers, 
and not of that class of men who were ordinarily 
chosen to form the parliament. He never could 
get a parliament that was in sympathy with his 
political ideals. 

It is remarkable, however, that a large propor- 
tion of the political changes made by Cromwell 
have since become permanent. Among these we 
may mention the establishment of parliament as 
ultimate authority in place of the king, triennial 
sessions of parliament, the political union of Scot- 
land and England, toleration of religious denomi- 
nations, the abolition of illegal taxes, of the Star 
Chamber and the Court of High Commission. 

The election by parliament of William of 
Orange as king of England was a demonstration 
of the change which Puritanism had wrought 
in English politics. A new conception of the re- 
lation of king and parliament is here expressed. 
William was not averse to this idea. Coming 
from a country imbued with Calvinistic thought 
he was at home in the new surroundings as the 
[106] 



Applied Calvinism 

Stuarts could never have been, and he chose to 
uphold many of the reforms begun or suggested 
by the Puritans when in power. 

That Calvin's theocratic idea had power and 
influence in America need hardly be said. The use 
of the Scriptures as a text-book in civil govern- 
ment by the early settlers in New England, their 
framing of constitutions on Bible principles and 
the effect of this example on the national constitu- 
tion, are things familiar to all students of Amer- 
ican history. 

Griffis, in "Brave Little Holland/' brings out 
the fact that the lessons presented by the history 
of the Dutch Republic did not pass unnoted by the 
framers of our constitution. They knew of the 
division that had weakened the national life of 
the Netherlands, arising out of the extreme devo- 
tion toi local interests, and they saw to it that the 
American Colonies became a nation. In this way 
also Calvinism has had influence on American 
politics. 

The country of France was the scene of great 
Protestant activity under the influence of the 
Genevan Reformation. We should expect that 
there also Calvinism would show its political 
power. But much has occurred to negative the 
legitimate effect of the Reformation in France. 
The terrible persecution and the extensive depor- 
tation of the Huguenots under Louis XIV dimin- 
ished materially the effect of Calvinism, for those 
most devoted to its principles were the ones who 
suffered most. 

[ 107] 



The Essential Calvinism 

Dr. Abraham Kuyper asserts that the Hugue- 
nots showed the same remarkable traits, with 
some natural exceptions, as the Independents in 
England. Especially was this true of their fun- 
damental concept in politics. The sovereignty of 
God was the ruling thought, and out of this came 
the equality of men. Among the Huguenot towns 
and villages there was local government, 
popular suffrage and even trial by jury. They 
were nationally organized, also, through their 
synods, and formed a nation within a nation. 

Baird also in his history of the Huguenots 
declares that though, since the times of Louis 
XIV, the French Protestants have been but a 
small minority, they have greatly influenced the 
political thought and life of the nation. 

So it has come about that France, unlike the 
other Latin nations, is a republic. Calvin's ideas 
have permeated its social life in spite of persecu- 
tion and prescription; but as the majorities 
which have carried these ideas into effect have 
been other than Protestant, they have become dis- 
torted and failed of complete accomplishment. 

To a great extent, then, Calvin's political ideas 
have pervaded the Western nations, and even at 
this time, four hundred years after his birth, they 
are to be found expressed in institution and con- 
stitution, and incorporated into the body of our 
social consciousness. 



[108] 



CHAPTER VI 

THE CALVINISTIC PRINCIPLE 
OF AUTHORITY 



CHAPTER VI 

THE CALVINISTIC PRINCIPLE OF 
AUTHORITY 

The period which follows the Reformation was 
one in which much stress was laid upon doctrine. 
The great change that had taken place was re- 
garded as chiefly a doctrinal one, or a change that 
was due to a restatement of Christian truth. This 
emphasis upon doctrine led to a division of forces 
among the Protestant churches, for it accentuated 
the formal differences with the result of obscuring 
common interests. The result was an age of 
sectarian formalism. That underlying current of 
religious progress which really was the Reforma- 
tion was checked, and in the surety that they had 
a perfect statement of divine revelation men 
ceased to ask for further improvements. 

The Calvinistic principle which declared the 
Bible to be the inspired standard of thought and 
life, made of real authority by the action of the 
Holy Spirit on the heart, degenerated into the 
bare and unyielding assertion of verbal inspira- 
tion, until even the vowel points of the Hebrew 
text were looked upon as of divine giving. 

Calvin's conception of an All-active God, in- 
tensely personal and in touch with every human 

[mi 



The Essential Calvinism 

being, became a definition expressed in infinite 
attributes, and philosophically a doctrine of 
fatalism. 

His thought of the Christian life as an ef- 
fort to be godlike was displaced by the idea of 
that life as the possession of a correct belief, and 
the effort of the preacher was too often a telling 
of the limits of orthodoxy, rather than the 
spiritual uplifting of his congregation. Protes- 
tantism seemed to have lost its constructive power. 

Yet in the midst of all this formalism the spirit 
of the Reformation was still alive, though dor- 
mant. Principle still held good, though lacking 
expression. The spirit of Protestantism and the 
spirit of reconstruction were simply awaiting an 
opportunity to assert themselves. That opportu- 
nity has come. We live in the age of a new 
Protestantism and the principles thereof are 
strangely like those of the old, though the meas- 
ures called for are of a different nature. 

The intellectual battle of the Reformation cen- 
tered about the question of authority. It was 
Bible against pope and Church. In the Protes- 
tantism of our own time the Bible has become 
again the center of discussion, but that which in 
the time of Calvin was radical has now become 
conservative ; the battle is of the same nature, the 
battle-ground has been shifted. Again the pro- 
gressive party asks for a new statement of reli- 
gious truth and a new interpretation of the Bible 
itself: and it is busv with the endeavor to achieve 

' [112] 



The Calvinistic Principle of Authority 

this. "Let us know the truth," it has cried, 
"for the truth alone can bring God to us." 
Modern critical study has come in to make inter- 
esting once more the Bible of the Reformation 
fathers. But those who claimed to be, and were 
considered the doctrinal descendants of Calvin 
proved the most bitter opponents of the new move- 
ment. That this new movement was traceable 
back to the Reformation times and to Calvin him- 
self was something altogether unrealized. But 
one has only to recall what a breaking away from 
old tradition, what a change in point of view, 
what an upsetting of old standards, the Reforma- 
tion about Calvin was, to realize that the new 
critical attempt to understand the Bible is only a 
revival of Calvinism. Calvin dealt with the 
Bible critically. Certain books there were in the 
canon of the Scriptures that were called in ques- 
tion. These were examined as to their contents, 
their history investigated, and judgment rendered 
according to the evidence. But modern critics, 
treating for example the book of Esther in prac- 
tically this same way, have been able to do so 
only amid a storm of protest, and have been laid 
under the charge of trying to* destroy the Bible 
and undermine religious faith. It is not taken 
into consideration that the Bible is a collection of 
books, and that each book in the collection has to 
stand on its own merits, has always had to, and 
is in the Bible only because the ancient Church 
judged it worthy to be there; and this is some- 

[113] 



The Bssential Calvinism 

thing that Calvin realized and dealt with in care- 
ful critical investigation. 

In our generation new material for critical work 
has come to hand; the scientific interpretation of 
the world, the principle of evolution, a new idea 
of inspiration, the discovery of new manuscripts 
relating to the history and texts of the Old and 
New Testaments, the deciphering of ancient in- 
scriptions, discoveries in archaeology external to 
the Bible, the study of comparative religion, all 
these call for treatment, interpretation and ap- 
plication for the purpose of throwing light on the 
nature of the Bible record, the manner of its con- 
struction, and the source of its moral and religious 
authority. 

The critical effort to attain definite results from 
this material is not in spirit destructive. While 
it attempts to clear away some things considered 
outworn, its principal aim is reconstruction. Cal- 
vinism is historically the balancing of the elements 
of progress and conservatism. It happens to 
stand now for one, now for the other, or mayhap 
for both at the same time. It clears away old 
rubbish, it rears a new structure. Often it hap- 
pens that the same man is first critic, then 
reconstructionist. So we are assured that a new 
conception of the Bible is coming to expression, 
which will afford just as true a basis of authority 
as before, and perchance a more reasonable stand- 
ard of religious belief than that which we have 
received from our forefathers. 

["4] 



The Calvinistic Principle of Authority 

Now the very fact of the critical investigation 
of the Bible shows that authority in its ancient 
form is weakening. But man has a love for 
authority. It often is carried to such an extreme 
as to become an unnatural thirst for absolute in- 
fallibility. It matters not whether he is a 
philosopher scientist, historian, churchman or 
religionist, he makes infallibility his idol. He 
fashions it, not as the idol-makers of old with 
graving tool from wood or metal, but he takes 
the material of fact, or it may be of fancy, and 
with mind and pen fashions from it a standard of 
belief, a method of action, a metaphysical inter- 
pretation, and pronounces the work of his own 
mind infallible, a something absolute, a god, an 
idol in the world of thought and idea. Or it may 
be that the idol is found ready-made like the 
image of Diana at Ephesus, and he pronounces 
that to be perfect and infallible. 

An ancient motto has come down to us, 
"Semper, ubique et omnibus/' always, every- 
where, and among all, an infallible test of 
knowledge, the intellectual idol of the schoolmen. 
But it has been proved a false god, for time and 
again a single man has been right and all the 
world wrong; one man knows and all his fellows 
remain in ignorance. Science in one era is ig- 
norance in the next, the civilization of one epoch 
becomes the barbarism of the next, while the 
heresy of past times may be the orthodoxy of the 
present. 

[115] 



The Essential Calvinism 

The modern scientist makes his infallible 
by the method of induction and deduction. He 
looks over the whole field of known things until 
it seems to him that his collection of data war- 
rants a universal induction ; then he images an ab- 
solute principle and says to the world that this is 
a miniature of God and the universe. Then, too, 
the metaphysician with a like purpose before him 
carefully graves his intellectual idol, but per- 
chance with much less reference to facts. 

But the man untrained in the schools is often 
an idolator of this same class, for though he 
knows not the claim of the scientist nor the pre- 
scription of the philosopher, yet he may exalt his 
own conscience into an absolute expression of 
right and wrong, or a faculty which will enable 
him to pass infallible judgment on all moral 
action in himself and others, and on the surety of 
his own conviction calls men to come and worship 
at his shrine. Or perchance the Church embodies 
for him the absolute, and its prescription for life 
and belief is infallible. He has only to obey its 
mandates and duty becomes plain, the pathway is 
clear and the gates of heaven stand open. 

In the middle ages Roman pope and Church 
were the infallible for near all the W estern world. 
The Bible was forgotten, science limited to a few 
of the more studious religious orders, and moral 
sense was dull. The Church was unchallenged. 
But with the emerging of a new era with its 
distrust of the papacy the old authority was 
[116] 



The Calvinistic Principle of Authority 

undermined. Men sought a new infallible, and 
considered that they had found it in the writings 
of the Old and New Testament. The Bible be- 
came "an infallible rule of faith and practise.' ' 

But is Scriptural infallibility also an idol and 
have its worshipers been lead astray and taught 
to bow down to a mere intellectual image, which 
after all is not the real object of devotion? 

"Infallibility" is not a Bible word. Such a 
thing is not claimed by the Scriptures for them- 
selves. The word of self-commendation is 
simple and modest, "Holy men of old wrote as 
they were inspired." It is men who are inspired, 
not words or things. Calvin saw this clearly and 
plainly stated it, saying that the Scriptures had 
no true meaning except as the Spirit of God acted 
on mind and heart and enforced the truth therein 
contained. 

But now if we still continue to regard the Bible 
as an "infallible rule of faith and practise," who 
shall be for us the authoritative interpreter? 
Protestant and Catholic, Lutheran and Calvinist, 
Episcopalian and Independent have varying inter- 
pretations of the same Bible, and within their 
ranks have sometimes almost irreconcilable dif- 
ferences. The infallible is still afar off. An 
infallible rule still needs an infallible application, 
and that the mind of man cannot furnish. The 
table of logarithms is useless in the hand of a 
child, and the child mind of man cannot infallibly 
use the eternal thought of the heavenly Father. 

[117] 



The Essential Calvinism 

The great Bible word is "Truth." This with 
"Love" forms the core of Jesus' thinking. The 
truth is what Jesus embodied, and love is the ap- 
plication of truth to human needs. Then it was 
not truth absolute that Jesus claimed to imper- 
sonate, but truth relative, relative to the world's 
moral and intellectual needs, relative to the prog- 
ress of human history, relative to the development 
of social forces and individual experience, rela- 
tive to the end for which the world of human kind 
was, and is. Absolute truth, infallible judgment 
are beyond the reach of the human intellect. To 
seek them is like chasing a will-o'-the-wisp. 

Must Protestants then give up the objective 
principle of their faith ? Do they lack a standard ? 
Is authority dead, and must each man drift about 
on the uncertain sea of doubt, this one hither and 
that one thither? Surely not! Truth relative, 
standards changing progressively are far more 
real, and hence much more authoritative than an 
imagined inerrancy. The religious consciousness 
of the human race acted upon by the Spirit of God 
furnishes a standard of truth and morals relative 
to the needs of each age. Religious conscious- 
ness grows and develops, and thus progressing 
gains strength and clearness, and becomes an 
ever nearer approach to reality. 

Herein is the significance of the Scriptures; 
they are the record of the religious consciousness 
and evolution of a race central in history and 
pivotal in spiritual human development. Proph- 
[118] 



The Calvinistic Principle of Authority 

ets of the earlier, apostles of the later, period ex- 
press in their thought and life the best and highest 
in God-consciousness and inspired activity that 
the race has ever attained to, while in the person 
of the Christ himself, this God-consciousness 
reached toi the height of a divine self-revelation, 
and brought to' culmination the age-long effort of 
the divine Will to express to the mind of man the 
reality of the spiritual as the final essence, and 
love as its true manifestation in God and man. 
That the content of religious consciousness varies 
greatly in different ages means not that authority 
and standard are lacking, but rather that they are 
becoming stronger and surer with each new 
religious experience realized and each new thought 
expressed; while as time goes on the essential 
things of morals and religion become more clearly 
evident, and the world races approach one another 
in sympathy and ideal. 

But as one century succeeds another, even with 
the swift progress and growth of modern religious 
thought and consciousness, the effect is not to dis- 
count, but rather to throw intoi bold relief the 
Scriptures of the Hebrew race; for they were 
formed when the world was young, and in the 
beginnings of civilization, and in the absence of 
science and invention and real education, but yet 
satisfy the most cultured mind with their ideals of 
life and their vision of God, even though they 
may sometimes be cast in child language, or 
couched in figures of human existence. But more 

[up] 



The Essential Calvinism 

than all else is Jesus of Nazareth, anticipating in 
his moral life that type of manhood which the race 
may hope to attain only toward the close of its 
history, showing in his person that likeness to 
God which gives us our best understanding of the 
divine nature, and giving a personal, spiritual in- 
terpretation of God and man which alone grants 
to life a meaning beyond the merely sensual. 

Hence the Bible is authoritative, is a standard 
not in a close, literal sense, not as a mere rule, but 
as giving an account of the best religious experi- 
ence of the human race, the best thinking about 
God, the best life ever lived, and the best state- 
ment of those great moral and social principles 
upon which religious and civilized society must be 
built. 

The history of the formation of the Bible canon 
illustrates how the race consciousness of religion 
attains to the authoritative. The books of the 
Bible are a collection, but further than this they 
are a selection. Not all, perhaps not half of the 
prophetic and historical writings of the Hebrews 
have been preserved for us. Frequent reference 
is made in the Old Testament to books which 
have passed out of existence, as the book 
of Jasher, the book of the prophet Nathan, while 
the apocrypha are only a part of a fairly extensive 
literature, allusions to which are made occasion- 
ally in the New Testament. Of the discarded 
books of Christian times we have a more definite 
knowledge. Not only their names but most of 

[ 120] 



The Calvinistic Principle of Authority 

the books themselves are preserved and are acces- 
sible in English translation. 

The final selection of the material for the scrip- 
tures of the Old Testament is supposed to have 
been made by Ezra with the help of the scholars 
composing the so-called Great Synagogue; the 
New Testament canon crystallized somewhere in 
the second century. In either case those books 
were selected which expressed the religious judg- 
ment and consciousness of the age, and which in 
the minds of men bore the mark of divine in- 
spiration. 

Our possession of discarded books, or apocry- 
pha, especially of the New Testament, gives a 
norm of judgment as to what qualities in a book 
entitled it to a place among the sacred Scriptures, 
and as well what lack led to the discarding of 
others. 

There would appear to be upon examination 
five forms of Scriptural material, the possession 
of one or more of which, in some acceptable 
literary form, and having evidences of inspi- 
ration, entitled a book to a place in the sacred 
canon, (i) History written to describe God's 
part in the religious development of the nation. 
(2) Revelation of the character of God. (3) In- 
spired standards of devotional conduct. (4) 
Inspired devotional writings. (5) Spiritual teach- 
ing in the form of parable or apocalypse. The 
books which failed to make a favorable impres- 
sion on the religious mind of the Hebrew and 

[121] 



The Essential Calvinism 

Christian will in general be found devoid of real 
religious helpfulness, and faulty in that they do 
not possess any of the above-named qualities. On 
the other hand millions of people turn to the 
recognized Scriptures to-day as they have for 
ages, and find help and comfort and inspiration. 

And here the query naturally arises in the mind, 
If the writings of the Old and New Testaments 
are the record of the effect of God's Spirit on the 
life of man, and so are "Bible," why should not 
the effect of that same Spirit in subsequent eras 
produce material which might claim to be "Bible" 
also? Or, to change the form of the question, if 
as Calvin teaches, the Spirit of God is still acting 
on the mind and heart of man to the extent of 
enforcing Biblical truth, why should not that 
action now, as formerly, result in inspiration and 
the production of literary material of the same 
character and helpfulness as that in the Scriptures, 
and lead to a fuller knowledge of God and his 
ways and a better application of truth to life? 
Let us rather ask the question, Is not this just 
what has happened ? 

Our idea of God compels us to believe that he 
has ever ministered to the spiritual wants of man 
since his creation by some form of inspiration; 
it forbids us to think that human effort previous 
to the time of Abraham should have pro- 
duced nothing in the way of literature that bore 
evidence of divine inspiration, and it is a contra- 
diction of the words of Christ, "He shall guide 

[122] 



The Calvinistic Principle of Authority 

you into all truth/' to doubt that God is revealing* 
himself more and more as Christian history pro- 
gresses and that this revelation finds a continual 
expression in word and thought and life. 

Thus is formed the larger Bible of the race, the 
fuller collection of divine knowledge, the ever-in- 
creasing history of religious experience, the whole 
literature of devotional expression, the growing 
spiritual consciousness of the whole world of men. 

Yet the ancient Bible is the Book of books and 
ever will be, just as Christ is King of kings, and 
Hebrew history is the middle point of religious 
history. Nothing can ever be written of such 
vast worth. The sacred literature of this central 
era of history stands by itself. We would insert 
no recent writings within the time-consecrated 
limits. There is a certain ideal culmination of 
revelation in the New Testament and in Christ 
which makes it impossible to conceive of a better 
man, of nobler moral teaching, or a finer concept 
of the character of God. Here are the funda- 
mentals of our religion. 

Nevertheless the thought and writing and 
religious experience of men of God since the time 
of the apostles are of high value as supplemental 
"Bible," and here and there in the great mass of 
literature shines out the story of the martyr, the 
song and prayer of the saint, the vision of the 
seer, the teaching of the prophet of God ; and men 
finding in these things that for which their 
souls are hungering and thirsting thank God for 
an abiding inspiration. 

[123] 



The Essential Calvinism 

A distinct feature of the life of Christian nations 
is the vast accumulation of scientific knowledge 
gained through discovery and invention. There 
is a seeking for truth in its every form, not only 
among the more highly educated people but also 
among the general reading public. This fact has 
an important religious bearing. The common 
knowledge of the greater discoveries made in the 
realm of science, especially in astronomy and ge- 
ology, prepare the mind for a completer conception 
of the being of God. A mind whose knowledge 
included but a little world of a few hundred miles 
in extent, that conceived of the sun, moon and 
stars as but lights in the sky, that realized none of 
the laws of chemistry and biology and but little of 
the progress of human history, must perforce con- 
ceive of God in limited form as only a greater and 
better man, not an infinite, but only a larger finite 
being. But with us the telescope has revealed 
such vast and unthinkable distances in the uni- 
verse that infinity seems a necessary thought in 
our concept of the God who is the origin of such 
a creation, while we at the same time easily 
ascribe infinite wisdom and power to the Being 
whose mind and will guide and control all the in- 
tricate movements of planet and sun and star. 
And on the other hand, chemistry with its analysis 
of the hidden relations of the different material 
elements suplements our idea of the infinite with 
the idea of the infinitesimal, that which is in- 
finitely small, and reveals to us a control, not 
[124] 



The Calvinistic Principle of Authority 

merely of the great things of the universe, but as 
well the very tiniest. Still further the record of 
theology preserved on the earth's surface, eviden- 
cing untold ages of world history, and telling us 
of the progress of life from its crude far-away 
beginnings up by continual development to those 
advanced forms which are now on the earth, 
offers a forceful suggestion of eternity, and gives 
a meaning to human life which it could not have 
as long as it were thought of as a sudden and im- 
mediate creation. 

To this knowledge of God obtained through 
scientific discovery we must add that which we 
receive through the study of man's spiritual 
nature and spiritual experiences, and a much more 
important element in the larger Bible is the 
religious history which has been made since the 
time of the apostles. We are scarcely aware how 
much our thinking and character are influenced 
by religious biography and history, especially by 
that which is most recent and has come within 
the reach of our own vision. Preachers enforce 
the teachings they draw from the Scriptures with 
extensive illustration from Church history in all 
its different eras. The story of the conquest of 
the Roman empire by Christianity, the great 
struggle within the Church which we call the Ref- 
ormation, the religious awakening under Wesley 
and Whitefield in England and America, the 
biography of great churchmen of all ages, the 
heroism of martyrs, the significant experience of 

[125] 



The Bssential Calvinism 

common men, the stories of triumph in foreign 
missions, the development of different forms of 
devotional life, and above all the Christian life of 
those round about us in home and church, form a 
body of religious facts which has for us the force 
of "Bible," affording comfort, help and inspira- 
tion, becoming even revelation, for is not here 
registered the action of the Spirit of God on the 
world of people round about us? 

We use different terms in describing the 
religious events and phenomena of recent times 
from what we do when referring to the facts of 
Bible history, and thereby we lose the significance 
of the wonderful things that are now happening 
in the world. We forget that "apostle" means 
"missionary," that "priest" is "only presbyter 
writ short," that "pastor" means "shepherd," that 
the Psalms are only a collection of hymns, that 
the Old Testament prophets were the great 
preachers of their times, and that their books con- 
sist largely of sermons; and we falsely conclude 
that there is only one "Holy Land" and only one 
period of inspiration. We have to make a dis- 
tinct mental effort to realize that the deeds of 
modern missionaries are comparable with the 
acts of the apostles, and that Carey, Moffatt, 
Paton, Pattison, Chalmers and other modern 
apostles of the Christ, have a right to be associ- 
ated with Peter, James and Paul as divinely ap- 
pointed heralds of gospel truth and power to 
benighted peoples, and that their labors are no 
[126] 



The Calvinistic Principle of Authority 

less wonderful, their sacrifice not less, God's 
spiritual presence with them no less in evidence, 
than when the word of Jesus was new in the 
worid. Indeed, a review of the progress of mis- 
sions since a.d. 1800 makes plausible the state- 
ment that the nineteenth century, next to the first, 
is the most important in the world's religious 
history, while to-day all over the earth as never 
before it is possible to trace the course of God's 
spiritual workings, and we have only to quicken 
our spiritual vision to look upon a future world 
where every land shall be a holy land, and every 
people a chosen people of God. 

We have been wont to think of the Psalms as 
something in religious literature distinct from 
anything else ever produced. Our accustomed 
use of them, not so* much in singing as in respon- 
sive reading in religious services, has con- 
tributed to this result. Nevertheless, we know 
that the Psalter is simply the hymn-book of the 
Hebrew religion, used as such to the present day, 
and that the Psalms were written to be sung in 
religious services and private worship. The 
English translation is not, however, so singable 
as the original Hebrew rendering, and while for 
a long time the Psalms held an exclusive place in 
the Protestant churches, slowly and gradually 
they have been supplanted as hymns, at first by 
metrical versions of themselves, and later by Eng- 
lish hymns of recent composition and translations 
from other languages. We still read or occa- 
[127] 



The Essential Calvinism 

sionally chant the Psalms and are comforted and 
exalted by their truth and beauty, but the songs 
that we really sing are the product of modern 
psalmists, are the poesy of our hearts' devotion, 
in the language of our own time, and expressive 
of modern religious thought and life. Our finer 
hymns are the work of modern Davids and 
Miriams, of men and women who have lived near 
to God, and have had their natural poetic gifts 
enhanced thereby that they might give inspired 
expression to devotional truth in such a way as to 
comfort, guide and uplift the followers of Christ, 
as they render in word and song their personal 
praise and service. The psalm-book of the ancient 
Hebrews has expanded into a mass of song and 
praise, not gathered into any one collection, but 
found in many lands and rendered in diverse 
tongues, at times glorious and beautifully expres- 
sive, at others simple, even crude, but always 
heartfelt and sincere; the ways and means by 
which the human spirit in all its vicissitudes and 
experiences gives form to its aspirations, its 
ideals and its worshipfulness, just as, long years 
ago, the Jewish pilgrims on their way to festal 
service on Mount Zion found in the songs of 
ascent an expression of their own spiritual am- 
bition and a way in which to worship Jehovah 
as they journeyed cheerfully along the uneven 
road. 

The term "prophet" is another word for which 
we use a modern counterpart. Half unconsciously 

[128] 



The Calvinistic Principle of Authority 

we give to the Hebrew teachers of God and 
preachers of righteousness such a deep and sig- 
nificant reverence as to obscure the greatness of 
the prophets of later times. We often speak as 
though there had been no prophets since John the 
Baptist, whom we think of as the "last of the 
prophets. " 

But we should grasp the truth that our latest 
period of history is fairly glorious with the names 
of prophets, not only among the ordained min- 
isters of the gospel, but also among the laymen. 
Beginning with Savonarola, Wyclif and Huss, 
we have a long list of men who< have been inter- 
preters of God to men, who have pointed out the 
way of moral progress, who have championed the 
cause of religious reform, 01* given their strength 
and perhaps their lives also in the interests of 
freedom and brotherhood; and these have been 
and are our prophets. Because of the wealth of 
their prophecy the world of to-day fairly revels in 
truth, seems at times almost intoxicated with the 
deep drafts it inhales, while reform, progress and 
liberty follow the vision of truth with such surety 
and swiftness, as compared with former times, 
that our nerves are almost dulled by the rapid 
repetition of sensations, and we fail to appreciate 
the wonderful age in which we live, which, judged 
by actual progress, is in most ways the most won- 
derful of all history. 

It is, then, a huge mistake to conclude that 
authority has come to an end. We have 
[129] 



The Essential Calvinism 

still all the authority of Bible truth, and though 
we have a different interpretation of that au- 
thority, we have one just as forceful as that 
which appealed so strongly to our forefathers. 
And to this we add the corroborative authority of 
later thought and experience and accomplishment, 
and conclude that in reality mankind is possessed 
of a surer religious sense and judgment than 
ever before. 

But we might still be confused if we allowed 
the emphasis of authority to be placed upon creed, 
or the form of our intellectual belief. The true 
center of authority is not in the intellectual but 
in the moral realm; right living, not exact think- 
ing, is the burden of Christ's message. From 
this point of view we can see how authority is 
gaining, not losing, under present conditions. 
Christ's moral and religious message is authorita- 
tive as never before. He has declared that God 
is our spiritual Father, and the new century 
counts by increasing millions those who thus 
looking upon God enforce the authority of this 
truth. He asserted the spiritual nature of man, 
and to-day this truth has come to greater power 
by the enlargement of experience, and because of 
the study of man's higher nature in a careful, 
scientific way and the discoveries consequent 
upon this study. Christ gave the world a picture 
of the righteous life, and made the offer of divine 
help to those who would follow in his steps, and 
each chronicle of history recounts the success 
[ 130] 



The Calvinistic Principle of Authority 

of additional numbers of notable men who have 
realized the promise in a glorious way, while the 
rank and file of men possessing the same moral 
vigor give power to this word in the humbler 
circles of life. 

Then, too, the growing sense of social obliga- 
tion, the increase of practical brotherhood, and, 
most striking of all, the world-wide demand for 
freedom and equality of opportunity, and the rec- 
ognition of the justice of this demand, make force- 
fully authoritative Christ's assertion of social duty 
as pictured in the parable of the Good Samaritan. 

We reach then this conclusion: the religious 
consciousness of the race has come to have as its 
content a larger measure of truth, an increasing 
unity of expression, a common feeling of obliga- 
tion under the terms of the fatherhood of God 
and the brotherhood of man, and an ever nearer 
approach to reality; and there is created thereby 
a standard of authority, adequate to the con- 
ditions and demands of the present and perhaps 
for many future generations, or until a larger 
sense of truth and a diviner life shall afford a new 
and better basis of religious and moral judgment. 

"God is not dumb that he should speak no 
more; 

If thou hast wanderings in the wilderness 
And find'st not Sinai, 'tis thy soul is poor; 
There towers the Mountain of the Voice no 
less, 

Which whoso seeks shall find, but he who 
bends 



[131] 



The Essential Calvinism 

Intent on manna still and mortal ends, 
Sees it not, neither hears its thundered lore. 

"Slowly the Bible of the race is writ, 
And not on paper leaves, nor leaves of stone; 
Each age, each kindred, adds a verse to it. 
Texts of despair or hope, of joy or moan. 
While swings the sea, while mists the 

mountains shroud, 
While thunder's surges burst on cliff and 

cloud. 

Still at the prophets' feet the nations sit." 



[132] 



CHAPTER VII 
THE ELEMENTS OF THEOCRACY 



CHAPTER VII 



THE ELEMENTS OF THEOCRACY 

The theocratic government of Geneva has been 
the object of a good deal of criticism. It is 
looked upon as autocratic, oppressive, one-sided, 
and for all but that time and place, impractical, 
an attempt to realize the impossible. But 
criticism often confuses the essential and the in- 
cidental elements of the Genevan theocracy, fail- 
ing to note that the more objectionable things in 
the governmental policy of the city did not neces- 
sarily appertain to a government of this character, 
but are just as likely to appear under any form 
of administration. 

In general, we understand theocracy to- 
mean a form of government wherein the attempt 
is made to have a divine direction given to the 
affairs of State; God is the real sovereign, the 
rulers and prophets are his agents and inter- 
preters; the citizens of the nation are first of all 
citizens of the divine kingdom; laws obeyed or 
broken imply acts in obedience or defiance of 
God's will, and crime is in its essence a sin against 
God. 

The fact that these principles were given appli- 
cation in Geneva does not of itself furnish ground 
for hostile criticism. The emphasis of the critic 
[135] 



The Essential Calvinism 

rests elsewhere. Certain restrictions on liberty 
of belief, some rather tyrannical sumptuary regu- 
lations, unduly harsh laws and rigid execution of 
them, are largely responsible for what odium at- 
taches to the common idea of theocracy. 
Furthermore, a conclusion was drawn from the 
idea of crime as a sin against God that was un- 
warrantable. It was declared not only that a 
crime was a sin against God, but also that a sin 
against God was a crime and punishable as such 
by the magistrate. But this was going beyond 
the divine commission, even as stated by the the- 
ocrat himself, that the magistrate is ordained of 
God for the administration of public affairs, for 
the maintenance of peace and order and the sup- 
port of public worship; for there is a part in the 
being of each individual which is outside of the 
reach of government, and for which he is not 
responsible to his fellow men, but only to God. 
It is really a contravention of theocracy when the 
State attempts to> take cognizance of the inner life 
of the man. It steps in between the subject and 
his real sovereign. The execution of law reaches 
only the outward act of theft and murder, 
and has no administrative concern with the state 
of mind and heart which leads to such acts. It 
is true that the State is deeply concerned in the 
moral character of its citizens, and may change 
environment and alter conditions to favor the best 
moral development, but it cannot enforce the 
moral law on the inner man. The attempt to 

[ 136 ] 



The Elements of Theocracy 

make people good by legislation is foredoomed to 
failure. 

The Genevan theocracy had the appearance of 
being autocratic, and unconsciously our concep- 
tion of what constitutes a theocracy is tinged with 
this idea, and we feel as though a government 
which tried to repeat the Genevan experiment 
could not be a government by the people and for 
the people. But it is for us yet to> discover that 
theocracy may come to its noblest manifestation 
under democracy, and be the more truly what its 
name implies because not one, or a few, but the 
many constitute the agency by which the divine 
will for the nation may come to practical ex- 
pression. 

It is scarcely possible to come to any idea of 
government without giving it a theological basis 
of some sort. Morals, order, justice, equality, 
association are as characteristic of religion as of 
the State, and in either case they are traced back 
to their origin in the will of God. And there are, 
after all, but a few alternatives for a theological 
foundation of government. Three typical forms 
of government present themselves: (i) Theoc- 
racy, based on the idea of a personal God, the 
Jehovah of nations, whoi is the real sovereign; 
(2) Positivism, allied to* agnosticism, which seeks 
within man himself all the principles necessary 
for law and government and morals; (3) Pan- 
theism, based on the idea of an impersonal deity 
whoi reaches expression in all forms of life, and 
[ 137] 



The Essential Calvinism 

the highest expression in the most intellectual 
being. 

Christian thought finds but one of these accept- 
able. It demands a theocracy in some form 
whether it prefers this name or some other. Even 
in the first era of the Church, the apostles taught 
their followers to obey the magistrates as repre- 
senting a divine order and authority in society, 
and now that Christianity has come to be the 
dominant religion of many nations, it is to be ex- 
pected that its doctrine of God should find ex- 
pression in law and government. 

Calvin was a theocrat. In extended and force- 
ful argument he taught away the distinction 
which medieval society had made between the 
sacred and the secular; Church and State were 
to him equally manifestations of the divine will — 
God's will for the individual man lost in sin, and 
God's will for the man in the social and political 
relations of life. At Calvin's suggestion civil 
government and church government had a joint 
establishment in Geneva for the purpose of cre- 
ating a truly Christian society. In general it was 
a thoroughgoing success. The moral and 
religious condition of the city was vastly im- 
proved, the intellectual standard of the people was 
raised, government was made efficacious, industry 
became prosperous, while the city's influence, upon 
the rest of Switzerland and upon Europe, remark- 
ably exceeded its relative political importance and 
wealth. Some of the methods employed, even 

[138] 



The Elements of Theocracy 

some of the purposes stated were unwarranted, to 
say the least, but in the main the results attained 
were a justification of the larger purpose of the 
Genevan theocracy. 

When Calvin first attempted to put into opera- 
tion his theocratic ideas in the government of 
Geneva, he so roused the hostility of the more 
licentious portion of the populace that he was 
forced into exile, and the attempt seemed for a 
while a complete failure. But the anarchy and 
license, which followed the removal of his strong 
influence from the city, brought the better classes 
of the people to the conclusion that even a strict 
theocracy was preferable to disorder, and when 
Calvin returned upon their invitation, it was to 
become and remain for the rest of his days the 
dominant force in the city's life. He was not 
able to bring about all the changes that he desired, 
but in the main his plans and policies were carried 
out in both Church and State, to such an extent 
that he was the virtual ruler of the city though 
holding no civil office. 

There is no dispute, then, as to the statement 
that the government of Geneva under Calvin was 
a theocracy, in so far as human wisdom and ef- 
fort could make it so. His teaching was that 
Christ was supreme both over the Church and 
over the State — his will and teaching were to be 
followed in the one as in the other. 

It is fortunate for later developments that the 
theocratic plan was applied in so significant a case, 
[ 139] 



The Essential Calvinism 

in a government whose formal structure was 
democratic. Calvin himself did not have any 
special predilection for any one form of govern- 
ment as over against another, either in civil or 
religious affairs, and his personal feeling was 
somewhat aristocratic. Nevertheless Calvin's 
intellectual conceptions and theological teachings 
were thoroughly democratic both in theory and 
application, and the field of the Genevan Republic 
was soil singularly fitted for the growth of his 
planting. 

The foundation thought of the Calvinistic 
democracy is the so-called doctrine of the priest- 
hood of all believers ; whether then, a man regard 
himself as a church member or a citizen he takes 
his privilege and his duty direct from God. This 
is the essence of the theory ; in application it must 
have organized form. With Calvin it took the 
shape of two autonomies, one for civil and one for 
religious life. The citizens of one were the mem- 
bers of the other, but the two activities were kept 
distinct, at the same time being very closely allied, 
and similar in gradation and structure. In either 
case the foundation of government was the people. 
The republic had two councils with legislative 
powers, and four syndics as administrators of 
public affairs. The Church had as a legislative 
body a consistory made up of both lay and clerical 
members, and its policies were carried out by 
the Venerable Company, a body made up of 
the pastors of the city. With such a form of 
[ 140] 



The Elements of Theocracy 

organization the Genevese set out under Calvin's 
influence and guidance to* establish a purely 
Christian society. 

In describing the different steps in the forma- 
tion of this theocracy it may be best to pass by 
Calvin's first efforts, which were followed by his 
banishment, and take up the progress of things 
subsequent to his recall in 1541. 

The immediate cause of Calvin's exile had been 
his insistence upon a strict discipline in the man- 
agement of Church affairs, which included an 
oath on the part of the citizens not only to abide 
by the discipline, but also to accept the confession 
of faith. Before Calvin accepted the invitation to 
return, he stipulated that this discipline and con- 
fession should be a part of the fundamental law 
of the republic; every citizen was to subscribe 
thereto'; and as the material for these documents 
was derived from the Bible, this was equivalent 
to an oath of obedience to the divine law as there 
expressed. 

Following closely in logical order after the 
book of discipline came the catechism, the purpose 
of which was to educate the people in the knowl- 
edge of Christian doctrine; and as a sequent 
development of this there followed the establish- 
ment of a system of elementary schools, the main 
intention of which was to make it possible for 
every citizen to read the Bible for himself and 
learn therefrom directly the lessons of truth and 
life, and by so doing to become worthy members 

[141] 



The Essential Calvinism 

of the theocracy. There was established also an 
academy, a higher institution of learning, which 
was intended as a training-school for teachers and 
preachers and religious scholars ; the republic was 
by this means to be supplied with educated and 
worthy leaders and pastors. 

Church and school having been provided for, it 
remained to revise the civil law according to a 
Biblical plan. A high standard of citizenship was 
set up and laws were enacted for the purpose of 
bringing every citizen up to this standard. These 
laws were strict to burdensomeness. Attend- 
ance at religious services was obligatory, educa- 
tion was compulsory, gambling, drunkenness, 
loafing in taverns, profanity, extravagance, 
immodesty in dress, irreligious songs, immoral 
novels and other books, heresy, worship of images 
and blasphemy were forbidden in the new code of 
laws and transgressions of them were severely 
punished. It might almost go without saying 
that these laws were not finally established until a 
battle had been fought, but that battle over and 
the libertine party vanquished, the theocracy pro- 
ceeded triumphant on its way and made of 
Geneva the capital of the Reformed Church. 

One more thing came within the reach of the 
theocratic purpose. The government initiated a 
policy of industrialism which was called for by 
the exigencies of the situation. Refugees came 
from many lands to the famous city and they had 
to be provided for. Work was given them. Old 
[ 142 ] 



The Elements of Theocracy 

industries were expanded, new industries intro- 
duced, so that Geneva became as remarkable for 
its thrift as its religion. But without these 
peculiar conditions it would have been thoroughly 
in accord with the theocratic principle to care for 
the industrial as well as the religious needs of the 
people; for the whole range of human activities 
and interests is through the working out of this 
principle brought under control for beneficent 
ends. 

But what is the historic import of this achieve- 
ment of Calvin's? Has it a fruitage in modern 
conditions at all comparable with that of his 
theological work? 

To answer this query we shall need first of all 
to remove from the Genevan theocracy those 
elements that are purely local or non-essential. 
We may drop, then, the peculiar form of govern- 
ment which was partly of native origin and partly 
the work of Calvin. We may take away also* the 
unnecessary strictness of law and the harshness of 
its enforcement. Again we may deny that a sin 
against God is necessarily a crime to< be dealt with 
by the magistrate, and again we may allow a 
freedom of behavior, of worship and of faith. 

When we have done this, our conception of 
theocracy will be : ( i ) that the real ruler of the 
nation is the eternal personal God; (2) that the 
laws of nations should be based upon and be ex- 
pressions of the moral order divinely established ; 
(3) that the rulers are such for the purpose of 

[ 143 ] 



The Essential Calvinism 

maintaining this order with equivalent justice for 
all; (4) that it is the work of organized society, 
Church and State, to provide for the moral and 
material improvement of the people within their 
jurisdiction; and in a truly Christian society to 
apply the principle of brotherhood to every depart- 
ment of life. 

Theocracy possessing these salient features 
along with local peculiarities is easily recognized 
in the Dutch Republic, in England under the 
protectorate of Cromwell and in New England in 
its early history. But it is not understood how 
thoroughly theocratic principles have pervaded 
law and life in the great American republic of to- 
day, nor is it understood that it is the adoption of 
these principles that differentiates the United 
States from other nations having similar constitu- 
tions and purporting to be sister republics. But 
the truth is that no other people in history, not 
even excepting the Jewish nation, were ever so 
theocratic as the American people of the present 
time, or have tried to realize with such sincerity 
and devotion ideas of life derived from Scriptural 
teaching. The theocratic idea never had so great 
opportunity nor so vast expression. No such 
mass of people were ever so responsive to divine 
leadership or tried so unitedly to carry out the 
divine will. It is an unpardonable error to think 
of the American people, as so many do, as entirely 
carried away by the commercial spirit. It is easy 
to be misled by appearances, for the industrial life 
[ 144] 



The Elements of Theocracy 

of America is so gigantic and requires such a huge 
army of workers, and involves so much time and 
thought and effort spent on purely material aims, 
that there seems neither jroom nor time for any- 
thing else. But it is only seeming. Americans 
are above all idealists. In the midst even of their 
commercial pursuits, they are thinking of and 
working for ideal conditions under which 
to conduct industry and apportion the results of 
labor. They have a noble ideal of national life 
and for the individual man a type no less noble. 
Freedom and spontaneity they seek in their 
religious life. The New England home with its 
exaltation of womanhood has become the nation's 
ideal, and a new love and appreciation of child- 
hood is taking possession of the land. The edu- 
cational scheme includes all children and in most 
parts of the country instruction is free until the 
completion of the high school course. There is 
also an eager longing for art that is typically 
American, for music that shall beat in a new-world 
rhythm and for a literature that shall voice the 
ideal, as well as the real, in American life. 

Theocracy has its real opportunity in a re- 
public. It is a false notion that couples it with 
aristocracy, and in America where approximately 
a third of the population are members of Chris- 
tian churches, and nearly as many more are under 
Christian instruction, and millions of others are 
but less closely connected with church life and 
work, and all of these in conscious unity look to 
[145] 



The 'Essential Calvinism 

God as their heavenly Father to whom first 
obedience is due, the force of moral influence thus 
generated is simply incalculable, it is a thing such 
as never was before and it perforce makes the 
nation theocratic whether it will or no. 

If we turn to American law and the Constitu- 
tion we shall be impressed with the theocratic 
character of their make-up. It is stated on good 
authority that the Constitution of the United 
States was modeled on the constitution at that 
time in force in the state of Connecticut, which 
in turn was founded on the Scriptures. Whether 
this be true or not, the Constitution certainly car- 
ries out the leading social thought of the 
gospel. The purposes expressed in the preamble 
and provided for in the text are unity, justice, 
peace, defense, common welfare, liberty. The Bible 
is not mentioned nor the name of God used in any 
part of the document, but it is nevertheless true 
that the Christian principles of government never 
were so fairly stated in any national constitution. 
There is no provision for an established church, 
but for all that no churches ever had so firm a 
constitutional basis as the American. No docu- 
ment of its kind, perhaps, has so little to say 
about religion, none so much to do with real 
religious principles. The political equality de- 
manded, the brotherhood principle of unity, the 
personal liberty assured, the purpose of promoting 
the general welfare, are practical applications of 
Christian teaching to the theory and practise of 

[ 146 ] 



The Elements of Theocracy 

government. The chief magistrate as he enters 
upon his office takes solemn oath that he will "pre- 
serve, protect and defend" the Constitution, and 
it is prescribed in that Constitution that he is to 
"take care that the laws be faithfully executed." 
And what the President is required to do is ex- 
pected of other magistrates in their own special 
sphere of activity; they pledge themselves as ser- 
vants of the people to carry out the purposes of 
the law and Constitution. 

A review of the laws which presidents and 
governors are required to see executed, reveals 
most clearly the theocratic nature of the Amer- 
ican commonwealth, and the resemblance of 
American laws in purpose and form to those of 
sixteenth-century Geneva is remarkably striking, 
and while it is true that they are not so drastic, 
and omit some of the subjects of Genevan legis- 
lation, it is to be noted that in many ways they 
reach out beyond the limits of effort in the older 
republic; for new conditions have arisen, in the 
more complex life of to-day, which call for the ap- 
plication of law upon things which in simpler 
times could be trusted to care for themselves. 

This finds an apt illustration in the laws and 
provisions which concern child life. The laws 
providing for free and compulsory education 
have as their objective a nation composed of edu- 
cated citizens. Conditions do not favor extensive 
religious teaching in the public schools, but still a 
certain moral discipline is insisted on that in most 
[ 147 I 



The Essential Calvinism 

cases is of remedial force. In addition to this 
is the more important fact that a very large pro- 
portion of the teaching force is composed of 
Christians, the influence of whose example and 
behavior goes far to make up for a formal teach- 
ing of religion. And we may add to this the 
custom which prevails in many states of reading 
from the Scriptures at opening exercises. And 
the conviction is growing stronger with each year 
that passes that a mental training is useless, is 
oftentimes even dangerous, unless it be accom- 
panied by a moral education. The theocratic 
purpose of the public schools of America finds 
expression in a roundabout way, but it is the- 
ocratic after all — the schools exist for the pur- 
pose of providing the nation with educated Chris- 
tian citizens. 

But modern legislation goes beyond the mere 
educational care of the children: it provides 
homes for those that are orphans, asylums for 
those that are blind, deaf and dumb, and special 
institutions for the defective. It seeks also 
to protect the child from parental abuse, and 
is beginning to insist with increasing strictness 
that the child shall not be exploited as an indus- 
trial factor by either parent or employer. The 
cities are assuming the hygienic care of the chil- 
dren in their schools, are providing industrial 
training for both sexes and furnishing play- 
grounds, gymnasiums, baths and reading-rooms. 
By ever-increasing effort the American people 

[i 4 8] 



The Elements of Theocracy 

seek to establish the best conditions possible for 
child life. It is heresy now to leave uncared for 
the progress of a child's life; it is more than that, 
it is crime. 

The Church was formerly the agency which 
cared for the poor and the dependent. A the- 
ocratic spirit in the State has taken this office in 
large degree away from the Church and thereby 
creates a benevolent institution, not always show- 
ing the same sentiment and sympathy as the other 
body, but perchance many times distributing with 
a more even justice and greater wisdom. A 
vast sum is spent every year by the different states 
for benevolent purposes, and the express purpose 
of laws regarding this subject is, that every de- 
pendent person, of whatever age or sex, shall have 
some place of abode, plentiful though plain food 
and the simpler comforts of life. The dependent 
insane are cared for in public institutions, free 
hospitals are becoming common, while move- 
ments are on foot for the establishing of sanitari- 
ums for tuberculous patients who are unable to 
provide needed treatment for themselves. In the 
great cities benevolences assume enormous propor- 
tions and extend even to the hygienic care of 
people and places and the inspection of milk and 
meat and other food products. And the end is 
not yet. 

Quite recently public attention has been called 
to a new movement in the administration of 
criminal justice. The purpose of this project is 
[ 149] 



The Essential Calvinism 

not so much punishment for so much crime, but 
the improvement and reform of the drunkard and 
the criminal of milder type. It is a system of 
probation. The court takes a parental care of 
such delinquents as come before it, and they are 
allowed freedom during good behavior and are 
individually watched over by some officer ap- 
pointed for that purpose by the court. Of like 
character and purpose is the juvenile court of 
some American cities wherein the judge acts in 
loco parentis for young offenders. Through 
these institutions the State takes on the character 
of a remedial organization, combining moral in- 
fluence with authority. This whole policy of 
caring for those who cannot or who will not take 
care of themselves, is thoroughly theocratic in its 
nature and is characteristic of Christian countries 
and most of all the United States. 

A like tendency is to be seen in efforts dealing 
with the industrial problem. The American 
people have never taken kindly to the doc- 
trine of hisses faire. At one time a large 
party sincerely advocated an absolute freedom of 
trade. But the purely doctrinaire position on 
this subject has been practically abandoned by 
publicists, and in its place has come a sense, 
national and unsectional, which looks for an intel- 
ligent care of industrial interests of all kinds on 
the part both of national and state governments. 
Instead of violent and extended arguments about 
the tariff, public speakers are busy with a new 
[ISO] 



The Elements of Theocracy 

program, a gospel of fair play and just wages for 
the worker, a gospel of responsibility for the 
owners of wealth, and a gospel which preaches 
the common interest of the people at large in the 
face of both contesting parties. Slowly and 
surely this gospel is being written into law and 
statute. So we have laws limiting the hours of 
labor, requiring weekly payment of wages; em- 
ployers' liability laws, enforcement of safety ap- 
pliances on railroads and many other provisions 
of like import. Efforts are being made to give 
the government at least a partial control of wealth 
through inheritance or income taxes, but more 
especially through laws relating to interstate com- 
merce, insisting upon equitable transportation 
rates and upon the quality of food products to be 
offered for sale outside of the producing state, 
and through laws forbidding unjust combinations 
in restraint of trade. The reform along this line 
seems to> have but begun. In an advisory way 
also the national government attempts the leader- 
ship and instruction of the people by departments 
devoted to agriculture, manufactures and labor. 
All this has been termed in a detractive way "pa- 
ternalism" ; but instead of being a nickname, this 
word, taken in its nobler meaning, or a word of 
equivalent sense, will be used to describe the 
theocratic attitude of modern government toward 
the industrial interests of the people. 

More strikingly, but not more really, is this 
principle shown in laws which have as their pur- 

[151] 



The Essential Calvinism 



pose the moral defense or improvement of the 
people. We have long had laws enforcing with 
considerable strictness the cessation of common 
labor on the Sabbath, laws forbidding gambling, 
immoral books, pictures and plays, prostitution, 
public obscenity and profanity. But undoubtedly 
the greatest effort and greatest success of this kind 
has been the movement to stifle the liquor traffic. 
A century of temperance agitation is coming to a 
close in this nation. It finds whole states given 
to the policy of prohibition ; large sections in other 
states pursuing the same policy, while a growing 
sentiment and a wiser use of law bid fair to win 
for this cause a complete victory ere long. And 
when this work shall be done it is not likely that 
the American people will be satisfied to endure 
other evils of a related nature, but will through 
agitation and law enactment effect a still better 
moral environment for themselves and their 
children. 

But America is not alone in possessing this 
theocratic force. We find it also in England and 
her colonies ; it is represented by parties at least in 
Germany, Holland, Belgium and France; and 
even Spain and Italy, wonderstruck at American 
progress, are coming into sympathy with the 
methods by which this progress is being achieved. 
A social miracle has come to pass in Turkey, and 
in the Far East Japan is reflecting the influence of 
American thought ; while even China seeks to care 
for the moral welfare of its many millions by the 

[152] 



The Elements of Theocracy 

prohibition of the opium habit. In every nation 
on the earth the gospel of Christ and the eternal 
Father is being preached and lived. A new unity 
is coming to the world in thought and feeling, in 
law and government, in type of living. The 
foundation is being laid for a world republic per- 
vaded by Christian ideas and guided by Christian 
purposes. Theocracy has not ended. It has just 
begun. 



[153] 



CHAPTER VIII 
THE 

DYNAMICS OF PROTESTANTISM 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE DYNAMICS OF PROTESTANTISM 

There is considerable familiarity in common 
thinking with the statics of the Reformation, — 
creed, tradition, convention, statistics, polity, 
theology and historic facts. There is not such 
familiarity with the dynamics of the Reformation, 
— those forces and principles which, coming to 
expression in the sixteenth century, really pro- 
duced that great movement. 

It is possible to take a photograph of a river 
that is wonderfully real, or for the artist to depict 
a landscape with line and color so true that the 
eye is almost deceived. But in either case the 
likeness never changes, the river flows not away, 
the grass waves not in the breeze, changes of 
season never come; nothing ever grows or moves 
in a picture. There is a reality and a beauty 
which the artist can never put upon canvas, the 
great truth of change and growth and the poetry 
of motion. His art is only a window, through 
which we look out upon the world of men and 
things, and see the ceaseless movement that is 
taking place, and infer the tremendous forces that 
are at work everywhere in the universe. 

It might be possible to write a history of the 
Reformation which would have the true accuracy 

[157] 



The Essential Calvinism 

of the photograph, or a series of photographs, or 
have the visional quality seen in the masterpieces 
of the painter's art, that yet should not reveal to 
the eye of the mind those elementary forces that 
were the cause of all this history, and only sug- 
gest to the imagination that ceaseless and irresist- 
ible current of modern thought and life which 
has brought the Western world to its present state 
of progress and development. 

There is an interpretation of Protestantism 
which declares that this great movement has 
reached its culmination and accomplished its mis- 
sion; that its theology, ethics and philosphy are 
overpast, and we must look to some new social 
and moral force by which to move the world 
along. But this is the static interpretation of the 
Reformation which describes not the forces in the 
army of progress, but only its halting-places, its 
battle-grounds, its fortifications, its victories and 
defeats. 

But the question which interests us is whether 
or not the dynamics of the Reformation are still 
in operation in Christian society, and whether or 
net they are highly usable forces in the exigen- 
cies of modern life. 

The Reformation came to England and Amer- 
ica chiefly in the form of Calvinism. We are 
aware, however, that Calvinism is not the entire 
Reformation, but only a phase in its development. 
We can explain Calvinism only as we look a 
generation further back to the work and teachings 

[158] 



The Dynamics of Protestantism 

of Luther and Zwingli. But we may not even 
stop there. If Calvinism had its impetus from 
Lutheranism, it is also to be said that Lutheranism 
gained its initial force from what had gone be- 
fore. The difference between Luther and Calvin 
on the one hand, and Wyclif and Huss and 
Jerome of Prague on the other, is not enough to 
explain why the Reformation came in the six- 
teenth and not in the fourteenth century. The 
real difference was not in the men or in their 
thinking; it was in the social and religious life of 
those two* centuries. When the earlier Reformers 
spoke they voiced chiefly their own thoughts. 
When Luther and Calvin spoke they voiced the 
thought and feeling of their own nations and time. 
A remarkable change had in the meantime come 
over Europe. Intellectual and moral forces had 
been created and set in motion, and the success of 
the later Reformers was largely due to the fact 
that they gave direction to these new forces, ex- 
pressed them in terms of religious thought, and 
blessed them with lives singularly devoted and 
full of good works. 

The term "Protestantism" is for several reasons 
inadequate to describe the thing it represents. It 
stands for negation, or opposition to- some estab- 
lished ways or forms ; the word has in itself noth- 
ing of a constructive nature and is suggestive of 
that which is only temporary. By association and 
interpretation it has come to mean much more 
than its derivation implies, but it needs continual 
elucidation and description. 

[159] 



The Essential Calvinism 

As already suggested. Protestantism is twofold 
in its make-up. It is an organized protest against 
that which is false and unreal in traditional teach- 
ing, custom and law, and is forceful even to 
iconoclasm. But its spirit is not destructive. It 
abolishes, only that it may replace with something 
better. It destroys, only that it may rebuild on 
larger lines, and it is this characteristic that is 
the essential one in Protestantism. In other 
words Protestantism is a great impulse toward 
progress, a craving for better things, and an ef- 
fort to bring about changes in the life and thought 
of the world that are in accord with the teaching 
of Christ. It is not content with things already 
done, no matter how great or important. It is 
satisfied only in action. Protestantism at rest is 
Protestantism dead. An ancient motto expresses 
the spirit of this great movement in a beautiful 
way : 

"Do ye nexte thynge." 

We should make a great mistake also if we 
tried to interpret Protestantism as a movement 
altogether in the realm of the Church. The 
religious Reformation in Europe served as the 
foremost expression of that great impulse which 
characterized the sixteenth century, but not the 
exclusive one. A great intellectual awakening 
had come in between the earlier and the later 
Reformers. The scholastic philosophy was no 
longer satisfactory; there was a longing for 
[160] 



The Dynamics of Protestantism 

expression in the sympathy felt for the mysticism 
of Tauler, for the Biblical teaching of Colet, 
More and Erasmus, There was also a growing 
sense of national life, which was to> lead ere long 
to a great social and political change in Europe. 
In fact every interest in life responded to the 
new impulse, and when the Church Reformers 
took their stand in the forefront of the progres- 
sive party, it meant that the religious thought of 
Protestantism should leave its stamp upon every 
product of the new culture. 

It must be remembered, also, that the movement 
described under the name "Protestantism" was 
not confined in its efforts and results to the Re- 
formed Church. It was first a movement within 
the Roman Church. As an intellectual move- 
ment it began in Italy, following the advent 
of Greek scholars after the fall of Constantinople. 
It took its first form in the Italian universities, 
and was patronized by the popes themselves. Pope 
Leo X, who was on the throne when Luther 
began his reform work, was enthusiastic in his 
devotion to Greek learning, and established a col- 
lege at Rome especially for the study of the Greek 
language and literature. Then, too, the first steps 
in reform were taken by men who looked for a 
moderate reform within the Roman Church, with- 
out schism. Even Luther at first so thought and 
planned, and it was only as he was driven out of 
the old communion that it occurred to him to 
form a new organization. Subsequently when 
[161] 



The 'Essential Calvinism 



the Church had split over the question of limited 
or extensive reform, the passion for moral and 
spiritual improvement was not confined to the 
more radical section. There was a reform within 
the Roman Church as evidenced among other 
things by the formation of the Society of Jesus, 
with its purpose of perfect devotion to Christ and 
conquest of the world for him. And though the 
results are not so apparent as in the Reformed 
bodies, owing to the fact that little outward 
change was made, they were after all just as real 
within their more limited range. 

With this view of the larger Protestantism be- 
fore us, we shall be able more clearly to describe 
the forces which might be called its dynamic 
principles. 

The first great dynamic of Protestantism is 
the assertion of personality. Some kind of 
philosophy underlies every great thought-move- 
ment. Some noble conception is back of every 
reform. Yet it would be inaccurate to say 
that there is a metaphysic of Protestantism in any 
definite systematic form. Many systems of 
philosophy might be constructed within the field 
of Protestant ideas, according as one principle or 
another were assumed as the starting-point. But 
from the standpoint of the practical, and with the 
religious purpose in view, we easily come to the 
great premise upon which Protestant thinking is 
based. 

The theology of Protestantism is founded on a 

[162] 



The Dynamics of Protestantism 

pure theism. Anything but a personal God is 
abhorrent not only to its thought, but also to its 
feeling; the whole heart and soul of it is Jehovah, 
who enters into the life of all men as Creator, 
Spiritual Father, Saviour and Judge, the domi- 
nant personality o<f the universe. The exact form 
in which Calvin presented this thought we are not 
obliged to follow. Some other term than "de- 
cree" will describe for us the powerful, personal 
way in which God enters into our lives and makes 
his will felt in the progress of history. But the 
real content of our thought is the same as that of 
Calvin's; we only clothe it with different lan- 
guage, and attempt its definition in the light of 
that added knowledge which modern science and 
research has brought toi us. 

In accordance with this conception of God 
there follows logically a philosophy of idealism 
in some form, not necessarily absolute, or alto- 
gether free from a temporary dualism, but never- 
theless a practical philosophy within the reach of 
the common mind; it is idealism in the sense 
that it presents spirit as the first and ultimate 
being and substance in the universe; what we 
term matter is only a manifestation of spiritual 
thought and power. W e are taught to look back 
of matter for reality and beyond it for life. We 
thus find our place in the world. We, too, are 
ultimately spirit, not matter, and share, if we will, 
in the divine qualities of spirit, holiness and 
eternity. 

[163] 



The Essential Calvinism 

The stricter Protestantism of the Reformed 
Church insists most strenuously upon the prop- 
osition that each man is his own priest, and can 
come into personal spiritual relations with the 
Father Spirit without the intermediation of priest 
or pope. This has given origin to a strong doc- 
trine of individualism which is taught in books, 
promulgated in constitutions and expressed in 
life. It is one of the great forceful things of 
modern life, so assertive, in fact, that we are now 
busy restating the principle in terms of social 
obligation. The practical value of this conception 
is the sense that it gives each man a posses- 
sion and place in God's world. From this in- 
dividualistic point of view, society as an organiza- 
tion is seen to be only a means to an end, not an 
end in itself. Society exists as a protection and 
environment for individuals, not "the individual," 
nor some individuals, but all the individuals that 
enter into it. Society is the household of men. 
It is their united will, their collective purpose, 
their family dwelling-place, their commonwealth; 
and the condition of any nation is to be judged, 
not by the totality of its wealth and power and 
its scholarly productions, but by the average 
wealth, the intellectual powers, the moral char- 
acter of all the individuals who are its citizens. 
For society is only individuals, justly and help- 
fully brought into relation to one another through 
birth, association and law. 

Individualism is often treated as though it 

[i6 4 ] 



The Dynamics of Protestantism 

came in conflict with social interests. This ap- 
pears to be true oftentimes. But a careful in- 
vestigation will reveal in such cases a one-sided 
individualism, an individualism, that is, of some 
at the expense of others, as perchance of the rich 
and strong as over against the poor and weak. 
But this is not the true practise of individualism, 
for individual rights mean common rights, uni- 
versal rights, and as far as this subject goes, law 
and freedom are interchangeable terms. In the 
real practise of this principle, where each man is 
treated with justice and respect for his person- 
ality, it will be assured that not only shall he 
have equal rights before the law, but also' in life 
he shall have equivalent opportunity with all other 
men. 

The intense conviction of personality, both 
human and divine, which is soi characteristic of 
Protestantism leads to a principle of ethics. We 
need not stop to classify this principle philosophic- 
ally. We seek only the practical and actual ap- 
plication of a great idea. Protestantism places 
its ethical emphasis on the will of God. As God 
is the great personality, the ruler over all finite 
personalities and the one to whom responsibility 
is due, it follows easily that men to fulfil moral 
ends must do and be what God wills for them; 
for the very nature of morals involves, after a 
provision for self-development and position, a 
relation with others, and because God is greater 
than all others, the main moral relationship must 

[165] 



The Essential Calvinism 

be with him. The moral man is then the one 
who seeks to carry out God's will. We need not 
stop to consider whether the summum bonum is 
usefulness, happiness or goodness ; whatever it be, 
the fulfilment of divine law or the effort to that 
fulfilment will lead to the highest good. The 
ethical principle of Protestantism is personal, not 
formal. 

The second dynamic of Protestantism is the 
assertion of the supremacy of reason. Protestant- 
ism was, and is, an appeal to reason as over 
against tradition and authority. The Reformers 
generally were ever ready to argue their positions 
and were capable of doing so. It is true that 
they used the Bible as an authority in place of the 
Church. But they reasoned themselves to this 
position also. Something must represent God 
and the truth. In the Bible they found that 
something; it was a revelation of God to them; 
they therefore concluded that herein was true 
authority, and they set up that authority as above 
Church and prelate because it seemed reason- 
able to do so. 

It has been charged against Protestantism that 
it is essentially rationalistic in its tendency. 
Whether this be true or not depends altogether on 
the definition of rationalism. If it is taken in the 
metaphysical sense whereby a leading idea is 
chosen as a main assumption, and the universe is 
reconstructed according to this idea without re- 
gard to what has taken place, or been recognized 
[166] 



I 

- 

The Dynamics of Protestantism 

as authority in the past, then Protestantism is 
certainly not rationalistic. Protestantism has a 
great reverence for the past of men and ideas, a 
reverence, however, not slavish, nor blind. It 
finds in former history the working of God's 
spirit, while it expects that working to be con- 
tinued in the future. 

In two things Protestantism may be said to be 
rationalistic in the simpler and truer meaning of 
the term. In the first place it attempts to pass 
judgment by careful reasoning on the worth of 
things as it finds them. This was the first great 
task of the Reformation. One by one the ideas, 
doctrines and methods in vogue in Church and 
State were called up before the bar of reason and 
pronounced good or bad, as they were adjudged 
to be in accord or not with the principles of right- 
eousness and truth as expressed in the Bible, the 
reasonably accepted standard. There Were no 
exceptions made intentionally. Everything was 
challenged, and in so far as they were able and 
had understanding, they let no false word or 
custom pass on into future use. 

In the second place the spirit of reason showed 
itself in a progressive way. The Reformation 
was not merely a court of justice, it was also a 
legislature and an executive. The laws of 
religion, morals, politics and social life were re- 
stated, and new laws were enacted and promul- 
gated by a method of constructive reasoning 
based on the same principles of truth and right- 
[167] 



The Essential Calvinism 

eousness by which they had estimated the worth 
of things past. 

With a sublime faith these men of reason set 
out to do the things which the legislative mind 
had formulated as ideal, and thereby initiated the 
second great stage of the Reformation, the period 
of reconstruction, in which we find laid the foun- 
dation of our modern civilization. 

These two applications of reason have been 
continuously characteristic of Protestantism. It is 
quite likely to happen in this era that the position 
of challenge is taken toward the new idea, so that 
it seems at times as if Protestantism shrunk from 
the legitimate results of its own methods of 
reasoning. The Copernican astronomy, the 
teachings of Galileo, the philosophy of evolution, 
the uniformity of natural law, the critical study 
of the Bible and other things not so worthy, have 
partly taken the place of ancient tradition as 
the objects of challenge and criticism. It is 
evident, nevertheless, that Protestantism has not 
lost its rational principle, for one by one as these 
new subjects have come up for adjudication they 
have found acceptance or rejection, altogether or 
in part, as evidence is weighed and sifted, as truth 
comes more and more to light, and judgment is 
passed as careful reason dictates. And whenever 
a great truth comes thus to favor, legislative 
Protestantism reformulates its statement, promul- 
gates it, and makes it a part of a great world 
program of progress and enlightenment. An ever- 
[168] 



The Dynamics of Protestantism 

repeated process of challenge, of justification or 
condemnation, of careful reconstruction, ensures 
to the modern world that same vitality and power 
of development which began in Europe with the 
Renaissance. 

The third dynamic of Protestantism is the as- 
sertion of freedom. This does not appear so 
plainly on the surface of things as do some other 
of the great facts of the Reformation. When 
thinking upon this subject, our attention fixes itself 
upon certain great heroes whose dominant per- 
sonalities impressed themselves very forcibly 
on the thinking and life of the time. These men 
gathered about them a large following of those 
who accepted their ideas in toto and so formed 
schools of thought and religion that became inter- 
national in character. Their bulk and influence 
overshadowed other men and their efforts, and 
their power proved a temptation toward uncharity 
which they were not able to resist. These men 
claimed freedom to think for themselves, this was 
the important thing. That they failed to extend 
freedom to men who believed otherwise detracts 
from their glory, but not from the meaning of 
their acts. When Luther nailed his theses upon 
the door of the Castle church at Wittenberg, the 
thing was done and could not be undone. Hence- 
forth men were to think, not as their superiors 
told them to think, but as their own experience 
and reason led them to think. Luther did not 
show charity to Anabaptists and Zwinglians be- 

[i6 9 ] 



The Essential Calvinism 

cause he could not reconcile their tenets with his 
understanding of the Bible. But they had only 
repeated his cry. These men also claimed liberty 
to think as they would, and with them were many 
others, Calvinists, Covenanters, Puritans, Inde- 
pendents, Freethinkers, men of the utmost variety 
of thought and belief made a common claim, — 
liberty of thought, of speech and of worship. 

Because of this common demand for freedom, 
even in the face of uncharity and hatred, Protes- 
tantism is to be characterized as a movement for 
freedom of thought; and it required only the 
passage of a sufficient amount of time and the 
suppression of an extreme class distrust, to make 
the thing clear in men's minds and a realized 
thing in their life. In the Protestant world to- 
day there exists a freedom of thought and 
opinon that is unlimited. Conflicting ideas and 
theories are allowed full play, and there is an 
ever-increasing faith that the true idea will win 
in the end and pass into life and practise. 

And Protestantism stands no less for political 
than for religious freedom. In their formal 
organization politics and religion are distinct, but 
the thinking which is characteristic of religious 
life will pass over into political life. "No bishop, 
no king," reasoned James I. Freedom claimed 
and won in the realm of the Church leads legiti- 
mately to freedom also in the State ; and a demo- 
cratic Church leads inevitably to a democratic 
State. But democracy is not simply the demand 
[ 170] 



The Dynamics of Protestantism 

of each man for self-f reedom ; it means also his 
recognition of his neighbor's freedom. A true 
democracy is, then, a vital outcome of Protestant- 
ism, applied or to be applied to every great public 
human relation. 

In our own time the principle is finding its ap- 
plication in the department of industry. The 
world has become conscious of a new problem in 
the inequitable distribution of wealth, and seeks a 
solution of it in various ways. Two typical solu- 
tions are offered : the collective ownership and 
administration of property commonly called so- 
cialism, and democracy ; and with these are other 
solutions which combine features of both. 

Generally speaking, the Protestant, using this 
term in its widest sense, believes in democracy 
applied to industry as well as to Church and 
State, and, as in these two other departments of 
public life the foundation of government should 
be the people, so he wishes to have the people 
masters in this department also. 

He is not, however, satisfied with the collective 
ownership of property in all forms. He is too 
much of an individualist for that. He wishes each 
man to recognize the industrial right of every 
other man ; he wishes each man, at least each able 
man, to share in the production of wealth, and to 
share in the results of industrial effort according 
to his capacity and willingness to work. He 
will seek his solution of the problem, then, not in 
taking away property and making it common, but 

E 171 ] 



The Essential Calvinism 

in ensuring as far as possible that wealth shall be 
used for the common good and that every man 
who needs work shall have work, and that under 
the best conditions and with equitable reward. 
On the other hand, he will not hesitate to ask 
those whom fortune has favored and law pro- 
tected in the gaining of wealth, to share, in ways 
legal and just from the standpoint of the common 
good, the use of his accumulations with those of 
his fellows who have been less fortunate. And 
he will not hesitate to take such control of organ- 
ized capital as will ensure honest administration 
and fair treatment for the public. For real free- 
dom, in industry as elsewhere, is the freedom of 
all. The industrial body, like the body politic, 
consists of individuals, and is to be conducted for 
the interests of the individuals who compose it 
and are to compose it ; and the place of each man 
in the industrial world will be best assured, not 
by considering first his material needs, but his 
manhood rights as an industrial unit, which are 
of far more importance than that he should be 
comfortably housed, clothed, fed and cared for in 
his old age. Manhood lives by possession and re- 
sponsibility. A true industrial environment must 
furnish him with these, and that not in an 
indirect or indistinct way, but clearly enough and 
near enough so that he can see the results of his 
own efforts. The human personality is the 
ultimate thing, not the human body, and the char- 
acter of men comes in for consideration before 
[ 172] 



The Dynamics of Protestantism 

their comfort. That man will make the best 
citizen and be the person of truest moral develop- 
ment who can say to society not only, "That is 
yours/' but also, "This is mine." There is some- 
thing in each man which belongs to his fellows, 
and there is something which belongs to himself. 
The proper apportionment of these two properties 
furnishes the method of democratic government. 

The fourth dynamic of Protestantism is the 
passion for improvement. Were it not for this 
element, the Reformation, with its strong em- 
phasis on the individual and his rights, would be 
strangely overbalanced. But as it is, individual- 
ism of philosophy is tempered by altruism of 
practise, and the alloy thus formed is social 
material of the firmest and most durable. Luther 
furnishes in himself a fine illustration of this com- 
bination. A man of German birth, he had the 
Teuton's love of freedom, and while a novice in 
the Augustinian monastery of Erfurt his religious 
experience took the form of a strong desire to be 
free from the burden of guilt. He found no 
relief in the penances and prescribed method of 
the monastic life. He confided his trouble to the 
superior of his order, who* tried to' give a subjec- 
tive form to his thought and experience, and with 
some success ; but it was not until he found in the 
writings of Paul the doctrine of justification by 
faith that he gained full moral freedom and self- 
mastery. By this experience he gained an impulse 
toward freedom in other things, and went on 
[ 173] 



The Essential Calvinism 

step by step, until at last in perfect boldness, he 
was ready to burn the pope's bull of excommuni- 
cation which cut him off from the Roman Church. 
With this experience there had come another 
no less vital and real. He had encountered the 
monk Tetzel on his way through Germany shame- 
lessly vending indulgences and deliverances from 
purgatory, and he had spoken forth with the 
wrath of condemnation. He had thus become 
the champion of others, and by so doing had given 
the cause of the Reformation a nobler objective 
than that of individual freedom. From that time 
on it has been, in spite of occasional halts, an 
organized effort for world improvement. It at- 
tempts not only to benefit the individual directly 
by giving him special rights, but also by making 
his whole environment the best and fairest 
possible. Home, church, school, government, busi- 
ness life, international relations, all become ob- 
jects of championship and improvement. There 
is nothing in the whole realm of human life but 
what this spirit of improvement seeks to affect. 
The forces of individualism are but pioneers for 
this altruistic attempt at universal righteousness 
and peace. 

It is easy to fall into the argumentation of post 
hoc ergo propter hoc, and this is particularly true 
in dealing with historic subjects. In trying to 
trace the historic effects of the Reformation 
movement allowance must be made for natural 
development; for the due effect of the New 
[ 174] 



The Dynamics of Protestantism 

Learning, by itself considered; for the civilizing 
effect of the Roman Church upon western Europe 
previous to the time of the Reformation ; for the 
inherent qualities of the Teutonic races; for the 
discoveries of Columbus and other explorers and 
the wonderful spell which these cast over the 
imagination of the people of those days. But 
when all this has been accounted for, there is left 
much that would have no explanation were it not 
for the Reformation. 

It is to our purpose to observe that some 
European nations became Protestant and that 
some did not, and that some felt the movement 
more than others. By noting any contrasts 
that may thus become plain we shall be able to 
make out more clearly the legitimate results of the 
Reformation. Great Britain, Holland, Switzer- 
land, Germany and Scandinavia are easily classed 
as Protestant by virtue of their participation in 
the reform movement. There is also another 
nation which in the writer's estimation deserves 
the name in a large measure, i.e., France. It is 
true that a large part of the population of Erance 
is connected with the Roman Church. But it 
must be remembered that this country was for a 
long time debatable ground; that the struggle 
there was violent, prolonged and widespread, a 
civil war of religion; that thereby the subjects of 
Protestant thought became familiar to all the 
people, and though force of arms and policy of 
State won the formal victory for Catholicism, the 

[175] 



The Essential Calvinism 

ideas of Protestantism found root in the thinking 
of the people, and to-day Prance, though having 
so large a proportion Catholic, is in some ways 
more Protestant than Germany. It seems just 
to include France within the sway of Protestant 
influence — it is a democracy ; it stands for free- 
dom of thought and the supremacy of reason; 
furthermore, it has separated Church and State; 
it is intense in its devotion to truth and is pre- 
eminently an intellectual nation among intellectual 
nations. 

Little Switzerland among the mountains, shut 
in by other nations, was yet in the first century 
of the Reformation a primal force in the new 
movement. But as it spread to more populous 
countries, and to* those which had greater natural 
advantages, the headship of Protestantism was 
taken away from her. Germany fought the 
great land battles of the Reformation, and at last 
with the help of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden 
won for Protestantism a sure place in history, 
while England and Holland for their part wrested 
the control of the seas from Spain; and France, 
sympathizing partly with one and partly with the 
other cause, suffered as much as any nation, and 
it may be after all, shared as much as any in the 
Reformation, though but half conscious of it. This 
group of nations with the United States, the great 
Protestant nation of America, have come already 
to be the dominating powers of the world's life. 
Only since the recent rise of Japan have they had 

[176] 



The Dynamics of Protestantism 

any real rivals except among themselves. 
Whether from the standpoint of armament, of 
civilization, or of industry and commerce, their 
position is an assured one. Russia with its im- 
mense territory and millions of population lags 
behind, having not those social forces which 
Protestantism provides, and China and India, 
ancient and populous, look for their inspiration to 
the later peoples of the Occident? How much 
has Protestantism to do with this? 

We may note first the effort toward popular 
education and the development of science which 
is characteristic of Protestant nations. The ideal 
of improvement is a people generally educated 
for the double purpose of practical service and 
the appreciation of life. But it does not stop 
here; the fuller knowledge of the truth and the 
deeper mysteries of the world appeal to men 
of unusual mental power, and lead them to be 
investigators and interpreters for the rest of 
mankind; freedom and inspiration they find in 
Protestant environment, and their discoveries 
have introduced a new era in human life. The 
child is now taught that which was a mystery 
to the wise man of old, and the common 
man is the intellectual superior of ancient nobles 
and kings. We live in a changed world. 
Telescope, microscope and crucible in the hands 
of scientifically trained men have opened 
the windows of truth to us and we look out upon 
a vast universe of law and order, wisdom and 

[177] 



The Bssential Calvinism 



power, wonderful, awe-inspiring, God-revealing. 
And we observe that the men whose names are 
great in this department of human effort belong 
to nations that have felt the impulse of Protes- 
tantism. 

Along with this development of science goes 
in a practical way the parallel progress of inven- 
tion. It would require a volume simply to 
catalog the useful inventions that have been 
made since Gutenburg turned off from his type 
the first printed page of the Bible. Mechanism 
has changed the whole w r orld of economics, 
largely altering .the form of human society, in- 
volving new relations and bringing new con- 
ditions. More than this, it has given privileges 
and comforts to the common people which were 
once the prerogatives of kings. For a day's 
wages a man may travel a hundred miles in a 
finer coach than was ever possessed by a Roman 
emperor. By careful savings he may build him 
a house possessing comforts that King Solomon 
never dreamed of, while for a penny or two the 
newsboy hands him a paper which tells him more 
of the world's life than Ben-hadad could learn 
from a thousand couriers, and the result of a 
week's labor will purchase more literature than 
the richest homes possessed in the times of Queen 
Elizabeth. As we enumerate the more notable 
of these inventions, the steam engine in all its ap- 
plications, the dynamo, the telegraph, the tele- 
phone, the ocean cable, machinery for textile and 

[178] 



The Dynamics of Protestantism 

other manufacture, we are struck by the fact that 
these things had their beginnings in Protestant 
nations. 

No less striking is the amelioration which has 
taken place, and is still taking place, in the social 
structure of the nations. The Genevan republic 
of Calvin's time was an anomaly. To-day all 
European nations have their parliaments, even 
Russia and Turkey. Democracy is to be traced 
in its progress down the current of history 
from Geneva to Holland, Scotland, England and 
America, and thence by example and reaction 
back to France and the rest of Europe and the 
world, until in our day it has become the political 
ideal of all races. But the form of democratic 
government serves only as an opportunity for the 
activities of an honest citizenship. A republic 
cannot be maintained, except in form, unless its 
common citizens are trustworthy and intelligent. 
This is the improvement that Protestantism would 
bring to- every nation, that the character of its 
people should be such as to> ensure freedom and 
fair dealing, without regard to who the rulers 
may be, or what governmental form they are 
organized under. This is the real democracy, 
and there is no other. 

One of the noteworthy things of our American 
republic is the system of credit. An enormous 
amount of business is done in trust and honestly 
done. Positions of great authority and trust are 
filled by men of true patriotism and solid integrity. 
[ 179] 



The Essential Calvinism 

National interests are jealously guarded, and 
national reforms bravely and unselfishly led, and 
in the background is the great body of the people 
who trust and are trusted. An occasionally dis- 
covered culprit in office, an occasional embezzler 
brought to justice, only serve to call attention to 
the fact of common honesty among the American 
people. 

Not so distinctive a statement can be made in 
regard to literature in the highest sense of the 
word. Yet on this subject there is something to 
be said. We easily recall such great names as 
Shakespeare and Milton, but not in these men and 
their writings do we find the most significant 
facts. All great eras have had their literary 
great men. Protestantism has something w 7 hich 
these other movements did not possess — a vast 
and wonderfully varied literary product which 
ranks in quality close to the work of genius, not 
quite possessing such distinctive merit, but having 
a readability which the products of genius 
often do not have, and producing a far greater 
effect because it places in the hands of the people 
at large the interesting facts of the great world 
of life and imagination in a form which they can 
easily understand. Finer literature the Greeks 
no doubt had, perhaps also the Romans, but such 
a wealth and variety, such a fountain of helpful 
and accessible knowledge and sentiment never 
existed before. The book, the magazine, the 
newspaper in the hands of the people from in- 
[ 180 ] 



The Dynamics of Protestantism 

fancy to failing age make effective the dream of 
Calvin, who asked for schools that the common 
people might be able to read for themselves the 
words of the sacred Scriptures, 

All these great things, however, pale in com- 
parison with the chief characteristic of Protest- 
antism, that wonderful spiritual and moral pas- 
sion upon which all else depends, that intense 
longing for the will of God to be done on earth as 
it is in heaven, which leads men into* willing sacri- 
fice and suffering for the sake of others' redemp- 
tion, and which is the modern counterpart of the 
passion of Christ and the apostles — the same 
whether found in Savonarola or Luther, Xavier 
or Dober, Father Marquette or William Carey. 

The supreme concern of real Protestantism is 
the moral reform and development of mankind. 
It asks for a personal, vital religious experience 
in every man, and seeks to call this forth by some 
form of evangelism. It claims for itself the 
name "Evangelical," and at home and abroad 
endeavors to call the attention of men to the 
heinousness of sin and the glory of the spiritual 
life. The evangelical teaching was at first mis- 
applied by some who would turn liberty into 
license, but the personal appeal to men to> conform 
their lives to the gospel teaching met with general 
response. Results were soon manifest in the 
change of life and character. Protestants were 
promptly recognized, and often ridiculed, as pos- 
sessing to> a marked degree an independent moral 
[181] 



The Essential Calvinism 



life. The Lutherans, the Genevese, the Hugue- 
nots, the Hollanders, the Scotch Covenanters, the 
English Puritans won distinction for their moral 
worth and stability. Before their acceptance 
of evangelical doctrines and ideals, they were in 
no way differentiated from their fellows. This 
result had a definite cause; the demand for a 
nobler ideal of Christian living brought into exist- 
ence a new type of manhood. Under this type 
a man lives a life in which truth is the great 
authority and love the great fulfilment. He obeys 
the law, not because he fears the magistrate, but 
because he sees the reasonableness of so doing. 
He gives to the Church and for benevolent ob- 
jects much of his time and money, not under any 
threat, but out of a sense of duty and sendee. He 
lives the moral and religious life, not because 
Church or custom obliges him to do so, but be- 
cause he realizes that in so living he is in harmony 
with the truth of God, and he considers himself 
not as a man separated from the rest of the world 
through his spiritual devotion, but rather as an 
integral part of that life, sharing and partaking 
in every way with those in the world round about 
him. 

The attempt to improve the Church has resulted 
most generally in the adoption of some form of 
autonomy. The Protestant churches are, with the 
exception of a few State churches, self-manag- 
ing institutions, independent of the civil govern- 
ment, and with a republican form of government. 

[182] 



The Dynamics of Protestantism 

But the essential thing is not form. The typical 
Protestant church is a new creation. It begins 
with the idea that the local church is an associa- 
tion of Christian believers joined together by a 
covenant of brotherhood and service, and it ends 
with the conception of the Church as an institu- 
tion for the moral betterment of humanity 
through the proclamation of the gospel, its 
brotherhood life, and the effort to redeem the 
spiritually unfit. As a local institution, it seeks 
to be a family of the children of God in which all 
are equal, except as some are more fit to lead and 
hold office ; but even here the responsibility is dif- 
fused among the general membership, and 
authority exists only as delegated to some of their 
own number. 

As a world organization, it is a spiritual re- 
public made up of smaller bodies federated by a 
common purpose, and aims at nothing less that 
the conquest of the whole world for Christ. 

The century which saw the first American effort 
to evangelize the Orient is just now coming to a 
close. These one hundred years form the most 
glorious period of modern religious history. The 
Christ ideal of a world-wide spiritual kingdom 
has once more been enunciated, and a most noble 
effort has been made to make that ideal effectual. 
Consecrated men and women have been sent to 
every part of the world. Scarce a language now 
exists into which the story of Christ has not been 
rendered, and there is no country but feels 

[183] 



The Essential Calvinism 

the force of Christian influence, or in which the 
nucleus of a native Christian church has not 
already been formed. Among those who have 
gone forth under the impulse of this great altru- 
istic movement have been some of the most 
notable men of modern history, men in character 
godlike, in moral power heroic, and in effective- 
ness commanders-in-chief and builders of nations. 
The faith of these men is magnificent. The daring 
with which they throw themselves into the conflict 
is wonderful and their personal effect on the prog- 
ress of civilization and moral enlightenment ranks 
them with the great heroes of the Reformation, 
even with the prophets and apostles. Their power 
has exceeded that of the armies and navies of the 
world, their influence is greater than international 
treaties. They have exhibited in themselves the 
highest type of manhood, the highest power of 
moral influence, the most consecrated service. 
With these spiritual weapons they fight and win. 

The gospel of Jesus was inducted into an em- 
pire of force, but it was in its essence the con- 
tradiction of force. When his over-enthusiastic 
followers would take him and make him king 
through force, he repudiated them. He came as 
the minister of something superior to force, some- 
thing that in his plan was to take the place of 
force. Paul puts it into a motto of personal con- 
viction and expression. "The love of Christ con- 
straineth us." The gospel is the substitution of 
love constraint for force. 

[i8 4 ] 



The Dynamics of Protestantism 

The Reformation was the reassertion of this 
main principle of the gospel. It found the world 
once again in the clutches of force, and set to 
work to redeem it. Reason and the moral law 
the Reformers would substitute for authority and 
force, duty in place of fear, love in place of law, 
brotherhood and equality in place of class division 
and hatred. Men were to be trusted as God's 
children with the truth of God; as responsible 
beings they were to be given freedom of thought, 
of worship, of action; they were to be respected 
as moral persons, that being respected they might 
have reason to respond to moral motives and 
come to rule themselves through the realization 
of love and duty. Only the man who refused to 
rule himself should be ruled by force. Force 
enters not into the life of the man who follows 
the constraint of love and duty. 

But the mission of Protestantism has not yet 
been fulfilled; it will not be for years to come. 
The work which the Reformers began we are con- 
tinuing, and the foundation of universal brother- 
hood has been laid. The vision of world-wide 
peace may come to us with greater historic force 
than it came to the prophet Isaiah, for we can see 
the beginning of the end. We can see in action 
everywhere those forces which are to bring about 
the divine consummation of history, for we hear 
of those in every nation under heaven who in 
swiftly increasing numbers have learned with 
Paul to say and live, 

"The love of Christ constraineth us." 
[185] 



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